David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Of course the Tánaiste is right to accept that there is enormous distress caused by high wait times. He talked about the risks involved for patients and, yes, there are risks for staff as well, as we know. As a former Minister for Health, he knows that healthcare is, in essence, about people treating people, as well as making sure the people who work in our health services are valued but also that they have the resources.

When the Tánaiste talks about what the Government did last year, he needs to be a bit more straight about what was promised, on the one hand, and what was delivered. There were 1,150 additional acute beds funded and committed to in last year's budget. It was confirmed yesterday by the Secretary General of the Department of Health that some 150 of them will not be delivered. The Tánaiste talked about the 7,500 staff that came into the healthcare system, which I celebrate because they are needed. However, the promise was that there would be 14,500 new staff. The Government has managed to deliver only 7,500 of them. He talked about community services. A total of €150 million was provided last year for enhanced community services. The Tánaiste might not know this but half of that money will not be spent to deliver the community intervention teams that were promised. When people hear about task forces, they will judge the Government on its record, that is, what it committed and promised to do and what it has done.

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