Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

Let us not even talk about her lesser priorities or those objectives that were not priorities. Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding "no".

Last month I tabled a question asking the Minister to outline the improvement in the accident and emergency waiting lists at the Mater Hospital in the 12 months since she took over stewardship of the Department of Health and Children and promised action on accident and emergency waiting lists as her top priority. She did not answer the question but passed it on to the Health Service Executive from which eventually, after a period of time, I got an answer. The answer did not cover the full period of September to September but September to June and showed not the expected decrease the Minister promised but an alarming increase, from 21 to 36, or a 70% increase, in the daily average number of seriously ill people waiting over six hours on trolleys or chairs. That increase occurred throughout the summer months despite the usual annual reduction of numbers in accident and emergency units in the summer months. Undoubtedly, as the winter months approach the numbers will further increase.

I want to give the Minister one example of the current situation in the Mater Hospital. On Sunday, 9 October 2005, a 50 year old man with heart trouble collapsed at 4 a.m. He was rushed to the Mater Hospital by ambulance. He was placed in a chair in a storeroom with three other patients because the accident and emergency department was overcrowded. At 2.30 p.m. he was told he would have to undergo a series of tests but that it would be three to four days before they could be done as he was 35th on the list. He was told he would have to remain on the chair for that period and that if he left he would have to sign himself out to ensure the hospital would not incur any liability. He signed himself out and he and his wife are determined never to set foot in the accident and emergency department again, regardless of what happens. While in the hospital he said there were not enough chairs even in the storeroom and that some people were sitting on the floor eating their lunch before he left the hospital at 2.30 p.m. A man who had been on a chair beside him for three days also signed himself out in that storeroom before he left in utter despair. There was only one ladies and one gents toilet. The two toilets were being used as a bathroom, with people washing in the hand basin and changing their clothes in the bathrooms. Those people had been waiting for days on end.

The Minister concluded her remarks on 26 January as follows:

Accident and emergency departments form a litmus test for me, the Government and the people... By focusing our analysis, funding and energy on this area, we will achieve tangible improvements. I look forward to keeping the House and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children well informed of our progress.

The Minister had a different story tonight. She told us a Minister for health cannot be expected to do too much in any one year. She did not show us the results in accident and emergency services in terms of what she promised and the areas on which her ten-point plan had been delivered.

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