Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, was on the radio in the past number of days essentially stating that the universal health insurance policy, as per the programme for Government, is at an end. Meanwhile, the crisis facing the health service continues. In particular, overcrowding in emergency departments is at an all-time high since records began. The number of people waiting on trolleys in St. Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin is up 332% on the June 2014 figure at 484. In Waterford, the figure is up 178% on the June 2014 figure, a marked increase in the level of overcrowding. The number at Beaumont Hospital is up 150% at 757. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, should know that well. In Limerick, the figure is up 80%; in Galway, it is up 59%; in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, it is up 42%; and it is up 36% in Connolly Hospital. The Minister talks about universal care now instead of a universal insurance system.

Liam Doran, general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, says that the level of deterioration, the resulting compromising of patient care and excessive workloads on working staff contained in these figures is truly shocking. He says that what has been done to date has failed to address the problem, which continues to grow, and that it is the worst June in terms of overcrowding since the INMO began counting trolleys in 2004.

I listened with great attention to the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, last Saturday when he again spoke like a detached commentator, which has become synonymous with his term in office as Minister for Health. The programme for Government outlines an extensive list of proposed legislation relating to the hospital system and particularly the application of universal health insurance to that system. Is that legislation now shelved? Are all the legislative commitments in the programme for Government relating to health shelved in light of the Minister's comments? When will we see legislation on patient safety, particularly patients who are ending up on trolleys in such large numbers in the middle of summer?

See this speech in context