Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This time last year, during the course of the election campaign, it was obvious people wanted to improve their lot and that of their families from an income and taxation perspective but not at the expense at the provision of health services, especially for children. It was against this backdrop that we negotiated an agreement with the Government and insisted on the restoration of the National Treatment Purchase Fund to the levels it was at in the past, which helped to address major logjams that had arisen previously. I implore the Minister to pour whatever resources he can into that sector to deal with the crisis we are facing.

The Minister mentioned that no hospital has been built since 1998. In fact, the Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore was opened in 2007 at a cost of €150 million. We are very proud of that facility which represented the realisation of the process that was put in place many years earlier to share services among the Midland Regional Hospitals at Mullingar, Tullamore and Portlaoise. However, like many other hospitals throughout the country, theatres in Mullingar sit vacant during the months of January and February because of the pressures on emergency beds and, ultimately, because of the failure to meet capacity that has arisen out of the problems in attracting specialist nurses and other nursing staff.

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