Ms Hilary Tonge:

I have lived in Ennis, County Clare, for 40 years. My children were born in Ennis general hospital. Those were the days when we had a maternity service. Now, women from Clare travel from Limerick or Galway to have their Clare babies, that is, if they do not give birth in an ambulance on the way. We also remember how we had an emergency department.

Ennis Hospital is still a great hospital with great staff, but it is not getting the resources it deserves. It has far more potential. There was a large campaign in 2009 to save Ennis general hospital from being downgraded. We were told we were getting a centre of excellence, yet here we are. Everyone in County Clare recognises the value of Ennis general hospital and that it is vital that it be upgraded and our accident and emergency department be opened. This would be in the interests of public safety. The reopening is consistently sidelined and, despite all the promises to address the crisis, the situation has only worsened. We in Ennis are constantly told that UHL is only half an hour away, but the reality is different when someone calls for an ambulance. For example, a sportsman recently waited over an hour while injured on the pitch in Cusack Park before the ambulance could reach him from Ennis town. Sadly, this was not an isolated incident. The change in ambulance protocol has had no impact because beds were closed in Ennis when it was downgraded. Currently, we have three beds set aside for ambulances in Ennis.

The medical assessment unit provides a fantastic service, but the hours have not been extended to 24-7 as promised. Operating from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. is not good enough, especially when the unit does not accept under-fives even while the HSE is on our radios telling us that RSV can be serious for under-fours. We have no alternative but to go to UHL. People in Clare need answers.

I am here today to stand in for my colleague from Limerick, who cannot be with us. The campaign in Limerick has prepared a statement, which I will now read.

Since the reconfiguration of hospitals in the mid-west over a decade ago, when three accident and emergency departments were closed to make way for a centre-of-excellence accident and emergency unit based in UHL, the people of the mid-west have been failed. According to the 2022 census, the population in Limerick alone has grown by 8% since 2016 and the number of people aged 65 years and over in the county has increased by a significant 23%. In the past, St John’s accident and emergency unit, which was one of the smallest accident and emergency units, closed. It catered largely for the population of Limerick city, with the rest of the county attending UHL. Its removal is having a very detrimental effect on the health of the densely populated working class estates in Limerick. The elderly population in those areas often express their horror at having to attend the overcrowded conditions in UHL, many saying they would rather die at home than lie on a trolley for days. This is a shocking indictment of the health service in the mid-west.

Limerick is a growing city. It is home to many multinationals and the workers that follow them. Project Ireland 2040 envisages population growth of 50% to 60% for Limerick by 2040. Nowhere in health planning for the mid-west is this large population growth catered for. One hospital will not be able to cater for it, let alone for the whole population of the mid-west in the three counties of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. We in Limerick feel badly let down by the health service being provided for our people.