Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I have a lovely graph which I will send across to the Deputy. I do not want to hold it up in the Chamber and be accused of using a banner. The graph shows performance in 2005 as against now. By any yardstick, there have been considerable improvements. While I am by no means saying the situation is ideal, there have been steady improvements.

I genuinely believe the clinical directorate model which is now in place is making a huge difference. I also strongly support the escalation policies. I have been reading material from other countries, even since the committee meeting earlier in the week, which confirms what the chief medical officer said. The fact is that when there is an issue in an emergency department, it is not just an issue for the emergency department but for the entire hospital. The entire hospital must deal with it seriously, as happens in many hospitals throughout the country - Waterford hospital has a very good track record in this regard, as does Kilkenny hospital and many other hospitals.

There are hospitals, particularly in the greater Dublin area, that currently have issues around late discharges, and the introduction of the new scheme has caused initial delays because it is very new and must be signed off on legally and in some cases by the courts. However, when those 7,000 applications are processed, this will have a huge impact on late discharges.

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