Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have lost count of the number of times I have come into this Chamber to ask the Minister when substantial action will be taken to address the horrendous overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick, yet nothing has been done. The Minister of State indicated that five beds will be opened under the winter plan. That response sums up the lack of respect the Government has for the people of Limerick. The Minister of State is aware that the plan asks for much more than five beds. The situation has severely deteriorated. Limerick citizens are being treated as second class citizens. It is a simple fact that the desperate conditions in UHL, with 50, 60 or 70 people on trolleys every single day, would not be tolerated in other hospitals, for example, in Dublin. There are 60 people on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick as we speak. That is a national disgrace. Limerick is clearly at the bottom of the Government's list of priorities. Limerick people deserve quality healthcare facilities and our doctors and nurses deserve a safe place to work. University Hospital Limerick currently provides neither. The hospital is dangerously overcrowded. A constituent recently described the chaos in the accident and emergency department as being akin to a cattle mart. Will the Minister of State indicate when the Minister last met management of University Hospital Limerick to discuss solutions to this problem? Will he provide a reason for the delay in delivering new beds at the hospital?

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