Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Has the Taoiseach seen the appeal from the INO for him to declare a national emergency because of the crisis in accident and emergency wards throughout the country? Does he intend to respond to this request made in extremis by the INO? It is manifest that the Taoiseach's Minister for Health and Children does not have the competence to deal with the crisis.

Many accident and emergency wards throughout the country are at breaking point. The relevant figures have been adduced in this House more than once. My colleague Deputy Howlin tells me about the circumstances in Wexford General Hospital, which was stretched to the limit. Thirty-five patients were on trolleys in what is a mid-sized to small-sized hospital. Deputy Costello advises me that an elderly patient in the Mater Hospital has been on a trolley for five days and five nights. This is the picture that obtains in most accident and emergency wards. The Health and Safety Authority warns that being in an accident and emergency unit could be a danger to one's health and safety. That is how serious this matter is.

Should this matter not be given overall political priority? The Tánaiste announced on the day the Estimates were published, 18 November 2005, that we would begin to see the "benefits" of her ten-point plan this spring. She has now revised this statement by saying she remains extremely hopeful that we will see measurable results by autumn 2005. The problem is going from bad to worse. The Taoiseach's Ministers are divided every which way. The Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, jumped in to get one up on the Tánaiste by announcing facilities in St. Bricin's, which has turned out to be unsuitable according to the Health Service Executive Eastern Region.

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