Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Once again, hundreds of our citizens are languishing on hospital trolleys. There were 551 people on trolleys this morning, some 32 of these in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, which consistently has among the highest number of patients on trolleys. In 2011, when the Taoiseach's Government took office, there were 10,000 patients waiting longer than six months for elective care.

Last month there were 24,369. My constituency, and I am sure it is the same for all Deputies, is inundated with people who are waiting for unacceptable periods for procedures. One man from Drogheda, Peter McDonnell, has been waiting for two years for surgery. Lily McDonnell is waiting for an urgent surgical appointment for the removal of a growth on her face. Apart from the 24,369 who cannot get surgical appointments within a reasonable time, there are those citizens who cannot be discharged because the Taoiseach's Government will not provide the level of care in the home that they deserve. The health Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar, has said the Government's response has not been enough. The Minister is a master of understatement - the Taoiseach has taught him well - but the issues remain; we have patients on trolleys, citizens without homecare packages and elective surgeries cancelled. Meanwhile, the Government paid €7.5 billion in debt interest, including private banking debt. Will the Taoiseach accept that there is a clear link between the hospital crisis and the pursuit of such wasteful and unjust austerity policies by Fine Gael and Labour?

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