Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for clarifying that the committee met on 13 February rather than 12 February. Having established that meetings took place, I will ask the Taoiseach about the content of those meetings. As we all know, despite the Government's trumpeting about increased funding to reduce waiting lists, including the resurrection of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, the numbers of people waiting in emergency departments and on waiting lists for treatment in the hospitals have increased. According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the trolley numbers last November were the worst since records began. Over Christmas and the new year, the position got even worse, with the numbers of people on trolleys exceeding 600 at times. Every day was a crisis in this regard.

The Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, announced the winter initiative last September. When we raised concerns at that time the Minister claimed the Health Service Executive was sufficiently resourced to deliver on its service plan. All the evidence flatly contradicts that assertion. Does the Taoiseach accept that, in the absence of meaningful engagement with trade unions and, crucially, front-line staff and medical professionals before ministerial announcements and governmental fanfare, the Government is destined to deal with crisis after crisis on an ongoing basis?

In addressing the general issues, I also ask the Taoiseach to comment specifically on mental health. The absence of 24-7 crisis intervention services is causing an ongoing crisis and costing lives across the country.

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