Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Again, staff are needed. We had witnesses in the committee. We heard about the radiologists. We have machines sitting there, lying idle, that would be able to be used. That is just one example, but we have been given other examples over the years related to staff. People are waiting on waiting lists. Last night disability was talked about, for instance. Some 4,000 children are waiting on assessment in the CHO 7 area. That is up 30%. In that area, if we had people to do the assessments, that waiting list would go down and the system would move much more easily. Similarly, the Minister mentioned access to GP services. The challenge for many people is that they get free GP care cannot access a GP in their area. They cannot get on a list. If you have a medical card, in many areas, it is almost impossible to get a GP. That is not just in rural areas; it is in city and urban areas. There is a challenge there. We had dental association representatives in. They were saying reduce the number of people. In the public sector, people and children have to wait sometimes years for key access to a dentist. They have free access to it, but they cannot get a dentist. It is the same with older people who have free access to a dentist and a medical card - they cannot get a dentist. People cannot get chiropodists.

Many key personnel are missing from the system, and that is where it falls down. The Minister talks about additional beds in the system. That is really positive, but the beds have to be in the right place. Does the Minister accept that? He stated that we led off in respect of claims. Recently, there was one issue - I presume it will be a claim in the future; I will not even get into that - whereby they were talking about safe staffing levels and saying that in one hospital where a young woman died there were three nurses to 80 patients. That is clearly a problem within that hospital system. That is an example of the challenges facing some people.

The Minister mentioned the reduction in the number of patients on trolleys over eight months by 11%, or more than 9,000 people, but that leaves 81,000 people who have been on trolleys. I am putting things in context, although it is really good that these things are happening. The number of patients over 75 who have been waiting more than 24 hours in an emergency department has fallen by 13%, or 1,600 patients. On the basis of my figures, this means that 12,500 people who are over the age of 75 were on 24-hour waiting lists in emergency departments. I am just putting things in context.

There are also the challenges people talk about as regards step-down beds and not having the right beds in the right place. Many people's lived experience is that the quality of our care services is decreasing rather than increasing. If you cannot get a doctor, that is a key component in your health. If you cannot get a dentist, that is vital to oral health. Where do you go? If you cannot get a doctor, you will go to the accident and emergency department. If you cannot get there, the lists get longer. That is the challenge. Talking about a shortage of staff is all very well, but if we do not have key personnel in key areas, the system fails, and that is what is happening for many people. We could give examples of people waiting on lists.

I have raised the issue of people with obesity having to wait five to seven years. Children who are non-verbal wait possibly two years for assessments. The list is going the wrong way. I am just putting things in context as regards some of the challenges we have. This is not a criticism. I am saying that this is the lived experience of many people as regards the challenges we face. They will probably ask after this Supplementary Estimate what will change as regards their life, whether it will be easier to get into the hospital, whether it will be easier to get a doctor, whether it will be easier to get a dentist and all those basic things. There are all the positive things the Minister says about what is happening, but those are the challenges that face us all. I am not blaming him or any particular party for this. Collectively, we all need to come up with solutions to this.