Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very disappointed with the Taoiseach's answer; he has again come out with the usual response that it is a more complicated problem. I have three questions for the Taoiseach. Does he consider it is acceptable that people over the age of 80 are languishing on trolleys for 24 to 48 hours and suffering in severe pain? These are our senior citizens who paid their taxes all their lives. Can I bury the myth in regard to the response he spun a while ago about primary care? I will quote a senior consultant. He said, "Those calling for investment in primary care as a purported solution to emergency department [overcrowding] ... miss the point that the current difficulty is caused by the warehousing of admitted hospital inpatients in [emergency departments] ... not the patients who could be more appropriately treated in [a] primary care [group] ... who certainly do not end up languishing on trolleys". The Taoiseach needs to listen to the front-line workers. Again, he and his Government seem to be totally out of touch.

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