Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I agree with the last point the Deputy made. The Fair Deal, which will be implemented later this year when legislation is enacted, will play a very important role in facilitating patients, particularly older ones moving from the acute setting to long-term care, because we will have a fair system of funding for all persons.

We are measuring time of arrival now. We are considering this measure and not just the time of the decision to admit a patient. This involves a six-hour timeframe. There has been a reduction of 20%. Measuring patient statistics at 8 a.m. is not appropriate, as the Deputy knows. The measurement that is taken by the HSE is at 2 p.m. every day and, according to this, there has been a 20% improvement. This continues to be the case.

Issues do arise within the hospital system. There have been serious infection issues in Beaumont Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital and others. During the months of February and March, these issues have affected some of the targets we have set. Notwithstanding that, there has been an enormous improvement with regard to the number of people waiting to be seen in emergency departments, certainly in recent years. We are beginning to see a drop off in the number attending emergency departments because individuals are instead going to primary care facilities, which practice I know the Deputy supports.

See this speech in context