Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The reality is that the small number of beds promised for 2018 were simply not delivered by the Government. The modular unit in Clonmel has been promised for over two years, if not longer, but it still has not been delivered. Yesterday the Minister for Health could not give specifics for additional bed capacity in 2019. He used the phrase "early in 2019." To be fair, the Taoiseach's predecessor, Deputy Enda Kenny, gave a whole new meaning to the term "early". Normally, it meant "at the very earliest", "the middle of the following year", if not "the end of the year." Therefore, the Taoiseach must forgive me for being somewhat sceptical when Ministers talk about "early next year" because invariably it means the end of next year and sometimes will drift into early the following year. The problem is delivery and the absence of same. Too many people, particularly the elderly, are suffering far too much in emergency departments because of the absence of planning. The lesson that was supposed to have been learned from what happened last year was that winter plans must be concluded by the end of July, but again, that did not happen this year. We are facing into another winter crisis in emergency departments, with a chronic absence of any planning and a lack of confidence in the capacity of the health service to deal with the issues that will undoubtedly emerge in the coming months.

See this speech in context