Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

Surely it would be much cheaper for the health budget to provide public long-stay beds for these people, who are currently in highly expensive acute hospital beds blocking other patients, who are on trolleys. According to the Irish Examiner, there has been a 40% increase in the numbers waiting on trolleys since 2006, when we had a national emergency. Surely it is a crazy system to have 163 people in this area who are occupying acute beds but who could be in much cheaper community beds. It is the policy to have people out in the community, and they would prefer to be there. The system we have at the moment is totally illogical. Does it not make much more sense to provide cheaper, long-stay public hospital community beds?

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