Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I commend the Irish Nurses Organisation for its ongoing campaign, Enough is Enough. We need more people at the forefront of our health services to follow its example. It is heartening to see hundreds of people join nurses on their lunchtime pickets at hospitals throughout this country. The INO had a successful meeting at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda the week before last, which I was honoured to join and support its members in their case.

The ongoing crisis in our accident and emergency units reached a critical stage on 20 April when the Health and Safety Authority criticised the level of congestion in accident and emergency departments saying that it increased the risk of injuries, infection and violence. The criticism followed a programme of inspection of 11 accident and emergency departments that commenced in March. The report stated that there were many issues in accident and emergency units that require immediate attention. It highlighted trolleys, chairs and medical equipment stored in fire-protected corridors and at doorways. Eight of the hospitals were reported to fire officers because exit doors and corridors had been obstructed. If this occurred in a hotel, I have no doubt the premises would be closed, but then that is part of the agenda of the Government in respect of hospitals in any event. The report emphasised how overcrowding leads to an increased risk of injury, infection and violence from frustrated patients.

The report, which was given to the Health Service Executive, also criticised the lack of senior clinicians in accident and emergency departments on a 24-seven basis. In the meantime we had the ongoing Enough is Enough campaign by the INO. What is the current position in our accident and emergency departments? The INO's trolley watch for yesterday, 10 May, reports that there were a total of 274 people on trolleys, with 150 in the eastern region and 124 in the rest of the Twenty-six Counties. That is a fine record.

We need to examine the accident and emergency issue from a long-term perspective. The Fianna Fáil-PD Government has been in power continuously since 1997. It was elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2002 on the promise that it would sort out the mess in accident and emergency units and clear the hospital waiting lists. One would think the Minister, Deputy Harney, had no responsibility for this mess over those eight years. She carries on as if she did her leaving certificate last June, was elected to the Dáil in July and took over the Department of Health and Children in September, still wet behind the ears. We are expected to give the Minister the benefit of a honeymoon period. That honeymoon period did not end last month but in 1999. In 2002, this coalition was re-elected on the promise that the hospital waiting lists would be cleared by 2004. However, we know the reality. We do not even have figures for the large number of people on waiting lists to get on to hospital waiting lists.

An e-mail I received from a friend yesterday stated:

The next time the government claim that they have cut the waiting list they should be told that is not true, what they do is not to put people in the list anymore. We got a referral for Temple Street Children's hospital at the beginning of April, I rang in May to the hospital to know why didn't I receive an appointment and I was told that they were still dealing with referrals made in February. Basically, I was told that I was on the list to get on to the waiting list.

I will not include the comment that correspondent made about the Minister for Health and Children.

The main focus of this motion is the chronic situation in accident and emergency departments, especially at weekends. Staff and patients are often in danger given the risks associated with overcrowding. People coming into these departments drunk, worsens this position. Many contributors have dealt with the issue of alcohol abuse, but that is not the fundamental point, which is the under-resourcing of these accident and emergency facilities.

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