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

I again raise an issue which I will probably raise for the remainder of my time in the Dáil related to University Hospital Limerick. It is a national disgrace and the Minister for Health should intervene personally. He attended the emergency department on 21 August. He told nobody that he was coming; he snuck in and snuck out. Nothing has got better since. In fact, everything has got worse. On Monday there were 81 patients waiting on trolleys; on Tuesday there were 80 and today there are 66. University Hospital Limerick has had 1,200 patients waiting on trolleys in September, 33% up on the figue last year, and the month is not yet over. We want to know what actions the Minister will take. He has said there is no recruitment embargo at the hospital, but obviously there is. We need 100 nurses and want to know when the embargo will be lifted. We want to know when MRI scans will be available as delays are being caused. We want to know when proper homecare facilities will be available in order that patients can leave hospital when they are ready to leave. We want a proper answer to that question. The Minister has not come into the Chamber to answer any of these questions, but for the past few weeks he knew that they were coming up. He knew that they would also arise during the Topical Issues debate, but he did not turn up.

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