Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I refer to page 58 of the programme for Government on the issue of capacity within hospitals. The latest figures released by the INMO are very troubling, particularly for hospitals outside Dublin, in that there have been significant increases in the numbers of patients on trolleys and the level of overcrowding. More than 51,000 patients have been impacted on, including 1,695 in Naas, County Kildare, in the past six months. The figure is significantly higher than at the same time last year. It is now the summer, but it will not be that long before we will have to prepare for the winter. It is very worrying that the position is getting worse; it is certainly not getting better. What measures are the Government going to put in place, with the Minister for Health, to make sure we not find ourselves in a more difficult situation?

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