Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is undisputable that the cuts implemented by the Government as part of its austerity programme are compounding the current overcrowding levels greatly. However, it is also important to take note of other issues at play here.

There has been a 9.4% decrease in nursing staff since March 2011 under the current Fine Gael-Labour Government. This does not take into account the cuts made under Fianna Fáil previously.

As a result of the current crisis, some of those who have been waiting for many months, or indeed years, for surgery have now had their hopes dashed and their procedures cancelled. These patients must also be remembered and everything must be done to ensure they are catered for as soon as possible.

There are massive waiting lists, which will only be extended due to the current situation. The reality is that one in every eight patients on a hospital waiting list is in a queue for over a year and some people are waiting up to four years to see a consultant. Nearly 50,000 patients, including 2,891 children, are waiting more than a year on lists, despite the Government's previous commitments that nobody would be on a waiting list for more than 12 months. There is a 400% increase in the numbers on outpatient lists since January, according to HSE performance indicators that were published last November.

Dr. Stephen Thomas of Trinity College's centre for health policy and management recently stated in response to the November HSE performance indicators that this country has seen "the biggest proportionate drop in healthcare across Europe" and that "We've lost almost 20% of our health funding, and certainly about 11-12% of our staff".

Sinn Féin has long proposed a lifting of the recruitment embargo. We would initially prioritise the recruitment of front-line workers and allocate an additional €6.67 million to increase emergency ambulance cover. Providing two additional ambulances, including personnel for each of the four regions, would ease some of the pressure on the ambulance service and, in turn, on the accident and emergency departments.

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