Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Regrettably, I feel this is a topic that does not need much by the way of an introduction. The crisis in our health system appears to have reached new levels. Unfortunately, on one of the last days of the Government's term, we have had to bring forward this Private Members' motion due to its response, or lack thereof, and the reneging on promises put forward as part of the Government parties' election manifestos last time round.

We all know the pressing issues and strain our health service is under at present, and the media have played an integral and helpful role in highlighting these issues. The number of people on trollies in our hospitals on a daily basis is indicative of a mismanaged system. This is a system that, under the watch of the Government, appears to have gone downhill. Waiting times for appointments have also seen a spike under the current Government. People who require certain special treatments are left in limbo due to long waits. Their conditions are not considered to be serious when looked at relatively. I know of many people who have been on waiting lists for up to four years for hip or knee replacements. I also know of people who have been confined to wheelchairs because they are in so much pain they are unable to get about. Some people are in so much pain that they or family members go to credit unions to take out loans they can ill afford and can hardly pay back to have operations done privately. This is an absolute disgrace. The health services will be unable to cope with the undue stress potentially caused by putting these patients on the long finger.

We require an additional €15 million for the ambulance service. Waiting times for ambulances is an issue that must be addressed immediately. We have seen toomany consequences and fatalities of people who may have been saved were response times at recommended levels. This brings me to the nurses who work in these pressure cooker-type situations and conditions. The media have kept us up to date with the current displeasure of those working in our hospitals in recent times. This unrest has, however, been rumbling in the background for much longer than this. Nurses are stretched in every which way possible. Their main focus is the health and well being of the patients they look after. This time is very limited, due to a significant amount of paperwork and other box-ticking exercises that are required, rather than being allowed to focus wholeheartedly on the patients who most need their attention. They work long hours for little thanks, so with all of this taken into consideration is it any wonder that a discourse developed and proposed strike action was tabled? These are the people who keep the clock ticking and the wheels moving, yet they are treated like spare parts.

Sinn Féin has called for the recruitment of 6,600 additional front-line health workers, including nurses, midwives and consultants. With regard to my portfolio, children face the same issues as adults. Mental health in particular is an area which needs significant increases in funding if we are to protect the health and well being of our generations to come. It must be recognised that we have an aging population and this is why we require more funding for the fair deal scheme which would allow hospital beds to be freed up by increasing the number of nursing home beds. This would require an additional €125 million to increase the amount of nursing home beds by 2,400 over a five year period.

As referred to in my introduction, it seems the trolley crisis will reach a point of no return if left in the hands of the Government. The Government came in with the intention of ending this fiasco, or at least it said it did. Its members state it is down to mitigating factors beyond their control, but it seems a loss of control as opposed to having their backs against the wall. Threatening the closures of accident and emergency departments is a knock-on effect of this lack of beds. It should be addressed in a proactive manner so that a lack of space in accident and emergency departments does not mean hospitals such as Beaumont have to turn people away due to them not being enough of an emergency.

Sinn Féin has been calling for the putting in place of a health care system free at the point of delivery, protecting all the citizens of Ireland. We would like to see an increase of €3.3 billion in spending on health care to move from a failing two tier health system to universal health care. This is all within our alternative budget proposals. We call for a health care system that is adequately funded and a rejigging of the management structures to allow more of the funding to reach ground level. There is no quick fix to our health system, but our proposals would certainly move us in the right direction.

We hope this motion can gain the support of other parties and Independents. This would demonstrate solidarity and a will to fix this problem in a proactive manner. It is all well and good that the economy may be on the rise, but this is not being felt in working and middle class areas. When the Government proclaims the rise in the economy it is meaningless to 90 year olds on trolleys in accident and emergency departments.

Obesity will be a huge problem. I also watched the programme on Monday night. The situation was a shock to the system and much worse than what I and people to whom I have spoken thought. It will be a huge issue which we need to address. I agree with my colleague, Deputy Stanley, that it is almost impossible to read labels. The incoming Government, at the very least, must ensure all sugar is labelled correctly and that we can read the labels. According to the documentary, there are approximately 78 different words or terms which mean sugar and most people are not aware of this. We need to address it.

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