Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Sular tháinig an Taoiseach in oifig, dúirt sé go raibh othair ag fáil báis ar liostaí feithimh do na hospidéil. Dúirt an Tánaiste ag an am céanna nach raibh an HSE ag obair. Bhí an ceart ag an Taoiseach agus ag an Tánaiste ag an am ach cad a tharla ó shin? Sin í an cheist mhór.

On Monday, Councillor Imelda Munster and I went to the hospital in Drogheda. There were 53 patients on trolleys, some of whom had been there for five days. In the first six months of this year, there were 3,266 patients on trolleys, on chairs and sometimes on the floor. These are not just statistics. These are family members, neighbours and friends. They are also citizens. One man told me he waited on Saturday for eight hours to see a doctor. On Monday, he was still on a trolley and he was not complaining. He said there were others waiting who were worse off.

All of this is happening before winter comes. The staff are doing heroic work, but this needs the Taoiseach's urgent intervention. I have two suggestions for him. First, he should re-open medical ward No.3 in Louth County Hospital to take the clinically discharged patients from Drogheda. Second, he should give a firm commitment today not to close the emergency Department at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan.

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