Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. I acknowledge that our hospital system is facing challenges and has been close to full capacity in recent weeks.

It is very important to acknowledge this has caused distress for patients, their families, and of course for our frontline healthcare workers who are working in very challenging conditions.

Attendances at emergency departments, EDs, have increased steadily since the beginning of the year and were almost back to 2019 levels, for the same time that year, just before the ransomware attack occurred in May. The last year with which reasonable comparisons can be made is 2019 due to the unusual attendance patterns in 2020. The HSE has estimated that for the week ending 4 July attendances were up 12% on the same time in 2019. There are a number of reasons for this, including the opening up of society as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted and additional GP referrals due to issues accessing diagnostics arising from the ransomware attack. The increased attendances, Covid-19-related patient safety protocols, and manual workarounds and reduced access to diagnostics due to the ransomware attack, have all been contributing to slower progress of patients through the system. The Government has funded significant initiatives across the health service to expand capacity, including, as Deputy Cullinane and I have discussed before, the €600 million invested in the last winter plan. It is worth noting that in spite of all the pressures Covid brought to bear over the winter, thanks to this very significant investment and extraordinary work right across our healthcare system, the ED attendances for the winter, which arguably should have been the highest on record, were the lowest on record. I credit everyone in our healthcare system who contributed to that. I have more I can share with the Deputy in the follow-up.

See this speech in context