Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government is going in the wrong direction in the delivery of Sláintecare and of healthcare based on need, rather than ability to pay. There are over 12,000 people on the waiting list for Mayo University Hospital today. Some 9,484 of those are outpatients, 1,171 have been waiting for more than three years, and 2,654 are waiting for inpatient procedures. The Tánaiste said last week that this was not about beds, but I beg to differ. The queues for the pain management clinics are getting longer. Those clinics are greatly reduced and there is an 18-month waiting list to get to them. The Government says it has spent €2 billion on the HSE during the Covid pandemic but it is certainly not getting to the people of Mayo. What message does the Tánaiste have for all those people who are waiting in pain for procedures?

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