Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Some 520 patients have already been discharged and work is ongoing to facilitate the discharge of more patients. That is the current position, not a plan for the future. More than 1.2 million people are treated in our accident and emergency departments, a much higher figure than ever dealt with before. A greatly increased number of consultants are meeting, dealing with and assessing patients. While there were only three or four consultants in the country previously, there are now 51. There are dedicated accident and emergency nurses, rapid assessment teams and clinical decision units.

See this speech in context