James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

With respect, the system is working. Let us look at the facts, rather than the rhetoric and hyperbole. Perhaps the Deputy missed the point made, but the figure will be €750 million, not €868 million, as I explained to Deputy Ó Caoláin. I disagree that the service has collapsed and I stand over this assertion. The trolley count, week after week and month after month up to August last year, was 30% higher than in the preceding year. The special delivery unit, SDU, headed by Dr. Martin Connor, was formed in June and became operational in September and week on week the numbers have fallen since. Up until the last third of December, the trolley count was approximately 40% lower than in the previous year. That is a 70% turnaround in a matter of four months which I see as cause for cautious optimism, although l know we could run into serious problems and the trolley count could rise significantly again. Nonetheless, the initiatives taken by the SDU and hard-working doctors and nurses working in a different way in hospitals with support from management are yielding results. The great thing about the hospitals I have been to around the country is that the staff are buying into this. They now realise that instead of there being command and control from the centre, they are receiving support from the centre.

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