James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I am sure there are many things that Deputy Ó Caoláin may want but not all of them are achievable or desirable even.

We have acknowledged we are still gathering outpatient figures while we have got more information on inpatients and real-time waiting in accident and emergency departments. I cannot wave a magic wand and get it all done in one go. Six months into our tenure, however, we have made major strides in information gathering which allows us to analyse and plan how to tackle problems.

The spikes that occur in numbers at Limerick regional hospital have nothing to do with the number of attendees and admissions but other factors at the hospital. We cannot address any of these issues because they are not funding issues. We need co-operation from all members of staff to address these which I hope we will get from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, and others.

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