Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This goes to the very heart of what Sláintecare is supposed to be about, which is getting people as well as possible through community services. There is incredible foot-dragging in the strategy. It is very hard to understand why there has been such an extraordinary delay.

I want to make a point about emergency departments that I made to the Minister here recently. Mr. Gloster was not present at the time. The point was that there needs to be a strategic approach taken to dealing with the pressures in emergency departments. I do not know how the HSE can take a strategic approach if there has been no analysis of the reasons people are attending emergency departments. Can we achieve that analysis? Is it possible to find out what proportions of people are attending for social reasons, for sports injuries or for heart conditions, or owing to diabetes and various chronic illnesses? Unless we have that analysis and data on why people are attending, how can we ensure there are alternatives to turning up at the local emergency department?