Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Obviously that number will be much lower by now and most of those patients will be in beds by the afternoon. This is a 12% increase on the same day last year, but it is down 16% on this time two years ago. Once again we see enormous variation from hospital to hospital. There are no patients on trolleys in Beaumont Hospital, two in Connolly Hospital, five in University Hospital Waterford and as many as 43 in Tallaght hospital. There is also a very large number in Limerick hospital. University Hospital Limerick, as Deputies are aware, has a new emergency department, a bigger budget, more staff and a new wing, the Leben wing, so clearly some work needs to be done there.

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