Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is extraordinary that in the overall budget the Minister talks about €459 million in headline figures and €180 million to address the ageing demographic profile in our acute hospital system. However, when one strips it all away we are talking about €9 million of additional funding to expand services. In other words, therefore, it is €9 million moving beyond where we currently are.

By any stretch of the imagination, that will have a profound impact on the capacity of hospitals to cater for what will happen in the year ahead. It is already transpiring. There are 601 people on trolleys today, 1 February 2017. It is the third highest figure in the history of the State. That is where we are. The idea that we can continue to say we have an expanded budget to cater for additional demand is wrong. The Minister must know in his heart and soul given the budget passed last year that the HSE service plan is already now a mythical creature. As we stand here on 1 February, we know we will have continued waiting lists, outpatient and inpatient, and people on trolleys because of inadequate funding for the acute hospitals system.

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