Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Níl rudaí ag athrú. Tá an córas sláinte faoi bhrú agus tá 100,000 páiste ar liostaí feithimh. Is é seo an fhírinne. They are the facts. There are 100,000 children on these waiting lists. The Taoiseach speaks of the additional €1.2 billion that has been committed but one third of that money has not even been spent. I asked him specifically about those consultant posts that need to be filled on a permanent basis. I also asked him specifically about increasing diagnostic capacity. Saying "mar dhea" or that there is not a problem or that the Government has risen to the challenge simply does not tally with the facts. By the way, this is not a Covid overhang. The facts tell us that, in January 2020, long before we heard of Covid on our island, there were 824,000 people on waiting lists. This is a long-running problem and at the heart of it is capacity. It is about staffing, beds, theatre space and diagnostics. I challenge the Taoiseach again and ask him to give reassurance to those children and families that the resources will be invested and that, when the Government's plan is produced, it will not fall short again.

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