Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

More than 300 people were accommodated on trolleys on one day last week. That is the average figure for the month of May, when normally the number of people on trolleys is very small. Despite the Minister's claims about what hospitals will be able to achieve, year after year we see the same statistics. We are not seeing improvements in trolley figures. The same difficulties arise in terms of moving people from accident and emergency units to wards, even where they are ready to be transferred. Given the level of cutbacks with which hospitals must contend, does she really believe they will be able to achieve the targets she is setting for them?

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