James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

-----do not get admitted, are not waiting on admissions and are not counted as persons lying on trolleys. They are people in for a test and they then leave.

The sad point on which I will finish is that the bulk of the on average 464 patients each day this year are sitting on plastic chairs with IV drips hanging out of them, in distress, with no privacy and exposed to cross-infection. That is the reality. In Beaumont alone, there are only 12 trolleys and yet there were 47 at one stage waiting admission. There were four Buxton chairs, which leaves 31 patients waiting in admission on plastic chairs.

That is the Minister's legacy in health in January 2011 and it saddens me to say it. She has been an utter failure. Her plans have failed at every turn. She has no new plans. She stands here before us today and tells us there has been significant improvement. Tell that to those who get cross-infection and to those with cystic fibrosis who risk the needless additional anxiety.

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