Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

However, change will only take place when we deal with issues in each hospital. Tallaght Hospital, which I know well as does Deputy Rabbitte, had a 1.9% increase for the accident and emergency department, and some weeks ago it had a 300% increase in the numbers of people on trolleys. When representatives from the National Hospitals Office went into that hospital and worked with people there, they were able to make dramatic improvements.

Discharge policies vary significantly from hospital to hospital. Unless we use the capacity provided by the taxpayer as effectively as possible, no amount of new beds will ever solve the problem.

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