James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for her response. I welcome the fact that, not before time, the waiting time will be counted from the time the patient attends the accident and emergency department. To be frank, it is nonsensical to have any other system.

The reality is that during January the figure reached 500 people on trolleys. It is a number of years since the Minister declared that this would be treated as a national emergency. It is not a blip. Last week, the Minister said on "The Pat Kenny Show" that it was a blip and that there will always be people on trolleys in every health care system and every hospital in the world. I have to disagree. I stood in a busy hospital in Holland where there were no patients in the corridors and no patients on trolleys in accident and emergency. Patients were seen within ten minutes of coming into the hospital, and admitted and discharged within a couple of hours. That is what we should have and there is no reason that we should not have it.

This is reality for people. I have an e-mail from a constituent-----

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