Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One thing one never used to encounter was the direction of people from the Leixlip-Celbridge area towards Naas as heretofore, they always were directed towards Blanchardstown and Tallaght hospitals. To an increasing extent, Naas is absorbing that major conurbation and consequently this is a kind of pressure the hospital had never experienced previously. I wish to echo the point about the staff and the kind of stress under which they operate. When one has replacement staff, obviously there is a training-in period and so on and part of the reason that staff members are being replaced is they are burned out, as one can only deal with stress for so long. It is useful to have the figure of a 14% increase in emergency admissions but unfortunately, it is historical and one must get to that point to prove there is pressure on the hospital. However, the very fact that such an increase is showing up demonstrates that demand is increasing because of the size of the county and the increased pressure from places that heretofore never depended on the hospital. In addition, the 2,000 people who are queueing to gain access to the fair deal scheme are putting enormous pressure on both Naas General Hospital and the Dublin and midlands hospitals to which it is connected. Consequently, there needs to be more than just the consideration of an historical model. Consideration must be given to planning to make sure this situation does not arise when there is clear and demonstrated demand that is an increased demand all of the time.

See this speech in context