Ms Noeleen Moran:

If I could just have another minute to explain, examining the HIQA reports and the Deloitte reports, the second HIQA report tells us that there is a major mismatch between capacity and the demand in our area. That report tells us that 79,644 people attended the emergency department in Limerick in 2022. The Deloitte report tells us that the emergency department in Limerick was built for a capacity of 70,000. We are already 10,000 over capacity in one emergency department. The effects are what the ladies to my left have been telling the committee about. It is imperative that the emergency departments are put back because this is the reality. It is capacity versus demand. The hospital does not have enough capacity to cater for the needs of the people. We have a population of 400,000 but that swells during summer months with tourists coming into the region, so it becomes even more difficult. It is a year-round problem with the number of people on trolleys and we just keep making new records every year this continues. On 23 October, there were 130 people on trolleys. It is a very dangerous situation for people in the mid-west and something has to be done.