Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I regret that the Minister, Deputy Harris, is not here but I thank the Minister of State for her reply. In the context of what she has just said about the fact that work that can be done in advance of this winter is to be identified, I urge that our region be prioritised in respect of both the modular unit and the opening of extra beds. It is quite clear we come out on top of the trolley list constantly. Furthermore, when we talk about the inequality in the provision of acute medical staff, we have the statistics. We are not just talking about unfilled posts; we are actually talking about unallocated posts. In other words, the region simply is not allocated the equivalent number of posts as other regions. We are therefore asking that the mid-west region be prioritised so we do not have to put people through an absolutely intolerable winter, with elderly people lying on trolleys for hours and hours waiting to get beds. The staff do wonderful work, as Deputy Neville said, but they cannot move people if they do not have beds into which to put them. I therefore ask the Minister of State to prioritise our region.

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