David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is the case that overcrowding is becoming a problem in hospitals again. That was always going to be the case as we came out of a very difficult time for those who work on the front line. I acknowledge that, as the Minister said, it a has been a very difficult year for those on the front line because of Covid on the one hand, which led to the cancellation of much non-essential healthcare and a slowing down at times of essential healthcare and then on the other we had the cyberattack. However, the waiting lists were a problem long before the pandemic and overcrowding was a problem long before the pandemic. While the Government did make substantial additional investment available to the healthcare system last year in the budget, if one tries to find out how many of the beds were delivered, be they acute beds or community ones, it is very difficult to get the answers. Maybe that is down to the cyberattack but I would like it if the Minister was able to share that information with us.

For the Minister's information, next week I will be launching a document myself on how we can reduce waiting lists. The Government often asks where the Opposition's solutions are. I have some of those solutions in the document. I will ensure the Minister gets a copy of this and would like to see him bring forward his plan for how we are going to reduce waiting lists in the time ahead.

See this speech in context