Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

He has been entrusted with making some effort to address the problems being faced in the health service on a daily basis.

It is getting progressively worse. Over 400,000 people are waiting to see a consultant. The Taoiseach promised in 2011 to reduce the number of trolleys but there is a crisis every day in the emergency departments. The Government accepts that to have 350 or 400 people lying on trolleys is fine. It is not the case that it is all fine.

The Minister for Health tells us that the budget presented to the Dáil last year was realistic but he can tell Shane Coleman today that he needs more beds, money and resources. At the heart of this is a lot of disingenuous talk, nonsense and spin. Our health services are now in rag order. Patients are suffering day in, day out. I should not have to raise it here. The Tánaiste should know that. She only has to look at the trolley figures for Beaumont, Tallaght and many other hospitals around the country. The Government’s stated policy was to reduce trolley numbers in our emergency departments and give free access to everybody by the end of this year, but none of that has been achieved. It is a shameful, sad indictment. In the context of general practitioner services, will the Government commit to giving additional resources to primary care to address the problems people face in having to go to acute hospitals because they cannot access treatment in their communities?

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