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

The Government is making an effort to normalise misery and mediocrity in all areas of Irish life. The Taoiseach recently spoke about the normalising of homelessness. This can be seen in the crime statistics as well. Now there seems to be an acceptance that having 500 people on trolleys is the new norm. It is simply not acceptable. I recently received information in replies to parliamentary questions about the number of people over 75 years of age who are waiting 24 hours or more on trolleys in emergency departments. The Government is failing to achieve the targets it has set for itself. Elderly people are lying on trolleys. All the clinical evidence shows that if proper wards are not accessed in a timely manner, there are adverse health outcomes. Overcrowding is costing us lives. The statistics are there. This can be seen every day of the week. The individuals behind the statistics are lying on trolleys. Some of them are having adverse health outcomes because of the extraordinary lengths of time that people are waiting in our emergency departments on a daily basis.

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