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

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I will come back on the 96-bed unit. Our concern is that the HSE recently told us that there will not be 96 additional beds, but 48. This will not address the problem we have. Unfortunately, there are more than 48 people on trolleys in UHL every day, which is a national scandal. I agree with the call from the INMO for HIQA to investigate the hospital. That should be done as a matter of urgency. I thank all the staff in the hospital, who have done a really good job. I refer to the consultants, the nurses, the porters, the kitchen staff and everybody else in that hospital. Unfortunately, I have family members there myself. It is very difficult for families. We cannot continue like this. We cannot continue having to come into the Dáil every week to talk about a service that should be delivered to everybody. Everybody is equal but there is a sense in the mid-west that we are not equal. The three hospitals announced the other day are to be situated in Galway, Cork and Dublin. Limerick was forgotten about again. There was no vaccination centre in Limerick; it was in the Radisson Hotel in Clare. The new one is to be located in Patrickswell, which is welcome but, again, Limerick feels left out. I hope this will be addressed.

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