Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá mé sásta bheith anseo inniu chun labhairt ar rún Shinn Féin maidir le sláinte agus an bealach níos fearr atá againn chun freastal ar achan duine. Tá mé buíoch den Teachta Ó Caoláin a chur an rún seo le chéile agus tá mé fíor-bhuíoch go bhfuil an tAire, an Teachta Varadkar, anseo.

The emergency consultant in Tallaght hospital, Dr. James Gray, last week described the scale of patients in our emergency departments as a disgrace. He said many of these patients were elderly and the most vulnerable in our society. It is actually worse than that. I have spoken to families whose sick and elderly members will not go to the emergency departments because they know they may be lying on a trolley for days.

Figures recently released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show that 92,998 people were treated on trolleys in hospitals across this State during 2015. This is the highest ever number of patients recorded since the Trolley Watch campaign began in 2006 and represents an increase of 21% in hospital overcrowding. It is also an indictment of this Fine Gael-Labour Party Government. In 2007, Deputy Enda Kenny promised to end what he called "the scandal of patients on trolleys" and that promise was broken. Four years later, in Fine Gael's infamous five-point plan, it promised to create a completely new health system. Fine Gael promised to end waiting lists and apartheid in our health service and committed to equal access for all, more and better community care and fewer hospital stays. Sin gealltanas eile atá briste. In fairness to the Minister for Health, at least he made it clear that the five-point plan was not worth the paper it was printed on. In the first five days of this week there were 1,395 patients on hospital trolleys in emergency departments across the State. Of these, 121 were in Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda in my constituency of Louth. On Monday and Tuesday, Our Lady of Lourdes had the worst figures in the State agus ba sheandaoine iad go leor de na daoine seo. These trolley waits and the spectre and misery of mostly elderly people but also others who are sick is an indictment of the Government's health policy. As part of his response to all this, the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, produced new proposals immediately prior to Christmas. These claim that there should be no more than 70 patients a day on trolleys. He also claimed zero tolerance of patients waiting more than nine hours on trolleys. On Tuesday, however, there were more than 200 patients on trolleys for longer than nine hours. In addition, a third of the 300 beds promised last autumn to tackle overcrowding still have not been delivered.

Fine Gael and the Labour Party have no intention of adequately resourcing the health service. Twice in recent months nurses in emergency departments have voted for industrial action. While the strike planned for today has been averted, which I welcome, the crisis in our health service remains. Tá sé an-soiléir gur scrios polasaí an Rialtais na seirbhísí sláinte tosaigh. What is happening in the health service is a direct consequence of Government policy. There is no other way to look at it. It is the responsibility not just of the Minister for Health but of every member of the Cabinet who voted for and implemented these polices. It is time the Taoiseach admitted that his Government seeks ultimately to privatise our health services. The Minister should take the opportunity during the debate to point out clearly that Fine Gael ideology favours a two-tier, private health model. He highlighted as much in various remarks recently.

Sinn Féin has put forward this Private Members' motion in an effort to focus political attention on easing the situation in emergency departments. We are not all about protesting and pointing up the inefficiencies and deficiencies in the Government's position. We have positive solutions to these problems and have published a fully costed health policy. I asked that it be sent to the Minister but I do not know if he has had the opportunity to peruse it. I see he has it before him. He will see in it that there is a capacity to realise a world-class system of universal health care assessed on the basis of need, free at the point of delivery and funded through progressive taxation. I ask the Minister not only to read that health document, but to implement it.

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