Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. He started off the answer fairly well but he went downhill after that. There was no meat in the detail except to agree with my hypothesis that it is wrong that a 90 year old woman who goes into an emergency department such as the Mater hospital could be on a trolley for two to three days while 100 yards down the road an executive can go into another emergency department and be treated immediately. In the Beacon Hospital, as Mr. Brian Fitzgerald has said, 95% of the time patients will be seen almost immediately by a consultant. The Blackrock Clinic states its highly valuable facility is there for those who "prefer to receive this treatment without delay".

This is not acceptable. We will have an epidemic this winter if a crisis develops because of an influenza epidemic. We need quick answers, quick decisions and quick engagement with private hospitals to use their capacity immediately. I am aware they do not provide all the services, as the Minister rightly outlined, but they do provide services and they have capacity because they continue to tell us that through advertisements on the radio.

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