James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I hope the Minister is safe from the frog counting exercise, as she seems to have one in her throat. The question was very straightforward; it asked for details on hospitals cutting back services ahead of Christmas to balance the books and the nature of those services. The Minister made a statement on the matter, but she did not tell us the services that will be cut or the hospitals affected.

The National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, figures of 2.4 months are much massaged. At present, to get on the NTPF waiting list in Tallaght, one must be waiting for a year, and to get on an orthopaedic waiting list in Tallaght, one must wait two and half years to see an orthopaedic surgeon. The Minister can massage the figures whatever way she wants but people are not fooled because they know how long they must wait for a service.

Yesterday, when I was in Tallaght, I walked through the accident and emergency unit. Every corridor was full of trolleys. I know that last week in Beaumont Hospital almost 50 people were waiting on trolleys. If the Minister does not mind, I would like her to give us a direct answer on what hospitals and services are being affected.

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