Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is factually incorrect, and I say that respectfully.

Every single year that I have been the Minister, the number of beds in the public health service, both inpatient and day case, has increased. I will not waste the Deputy's time reading the figures out. Every single year I have been Minister, the number of nurses and doctors in the public health service has increased. I take the criticism, which I think is valid, that it may not have happened at the pace we want. I will also take the criticism, because it is the truth, that we have never gotten enough new beds into the system to get ahead of the legitimate issues that Dr. Hickey presents. On what could be my final time exchanging with the Deputy in this role, I would say the challenge is that as the rest of society tries to move on from the pandemic, which is entirely understandable, we need to continue to talk about health as an emergency and we need to continue to approach it in the same way that we are approaching the Covid emergency.

In fairness to everyone working in the HSE, the hospitals and the doctors and nurses, there is a willingness from all of those people to do things differently. I received a letter from Dr. Emily O'Connor, the president of the association of which Dr. Hickey is a member, with suggestions as to how this winter can be different, and it really could be. That is going to involve addressing question such as why, in the Deputy's own city, so many residents from a nursing home end up in an emergency department every winter. That is not a criticism of the nursing home but we need to put the supports in to stop that. There are things that will need to be done differently. Bed capacity is definitely one.

On Merlin Park, which is a big issue in Galway, my view is that it is not either-or. I genuinely believe a city like Galway and a region like Galway is going to require a purpose-built hospital on the Merlin Park site and is also going to require Galway University Hospital, an elective hospital for the city and a new emergency department.

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