Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, and wish her well in her role as Minister of State with responsibility for drugs issues. It is an issue on which I have campaigned for a number of years so I hope we can work together on it.

This issue is addressed to the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, and I refer to the crisis in University Hospital Limerick, as over the past seven days the number of people on trolleys has consistently been the highest in the State. Today there are 30 people on trolleys, yesterday and the day before it there were 40 people on trolleys, while on 1 July there were 30 people on trolleys. Will the Minister of State relay the following questions to the Minister? What steps does he intend to take in dealing with the issue? When does he expect the new accident and emergency department at the hospital to be fully operational? A press release in August 2015 from Professor Colette Cowan, the chief executive officer of the hospital group, stated that the new facility would be delivered in the first quarter of 2017 rather than the previously revised date of December 2016. In response to a question at the regional health forum meeting in June 2015, Professor Cowan indicated that capital funding is approved and in place and the group was working towards the completion of an accident and emergency department by the end of 2016. However, at a briefing by Professor Cowan in May this year that I attended, she stated the expected completion date is now March 2017.

In light of the ongoing crisis and the fact that University Hospital Limerick has the distinction of having the highest number of sick and ill patients on trolleys, when will the new accident and emergency department be in operation? Will the Minister of State give an assurance today on the floor of the House that the opening will bring an end to the trolley crisis, as people are on trolleys instead of beds in University Hospital Limerick? I refer specifically to an opening date rather than completion date, as there is a massive difference in the terms.

Does the Minister of State know the additional bed capacity requirements to enable the new accident and emergency department to function without the chronic overcrowding that exists now? This crisis will only be resolved when more beds are delivered. We are dealing with people and not just figures, and unfortunately many of them are waiting for hours and, in some cases, days for care. Many of them are elderly. We must resolve the crisis as quickly as possible and I ask for urgent action.

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