Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is growing frustration and anger at the continuing overcrowding crisis in our hospitals. This morning the number of patients awaiting admission is again at near record levels. Some 472 patients were on trolleys in emergency departments or wards this morning, and for the third day in a row Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda has the highest number of citizens on trolleys. It is clear the Government is not providing adequate resources.

Consider the scenario. A patient who is ill presents at a hospital and a clinical decision is taken to admit the patient, but Government policy prevents them from receiving proper medical attention and denies them admission. Instead, they are left for several hours or days on a chair or trolley. I invite the Taoiseach to make an unannounced visit to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, or indeed to any other hospital, to see the challenges being faced by committed health workers and the indignities that are being inflicted upon patients and their families. Perhaps he will take the time to visit a ward from which patients have been clinically discharged but who cannot be sent home. It is not safe to send them home because they are denied the services they require as a result of Government policy.

The Government has decided that this is the price our people must pay for its austerity policies. Meanwhile, last year the Government paid €7.5 billion in debt interest, including private banking debt. Will the Taoiseach accept that he cannot and will not tackle the overcrowding crisis in our hospitals while he pursues these brutal austerity policies?

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