Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Hospitals are at breaking point. Some 1.34 million people are on health waiting lists. These are not just statistics; these are real people. Many of them contact their local Deputies, looking for assistance. It should not have to be that way. Why should it take a letter from a Deputy before action is taken, even if it is only in limited circumstances?

A man called to my office before Christmas. He has been on a waiting list for ear, nose and throat treatment in Tullamore for five years. He received a letter approximately a year ago asking if he still needed to be on the list. Unless he had died or experienced a miracle, of course he needed to be on the list. What he has does not go away and we need to be sensitive to people like him.

That man then received a letter inviting him to attend a private hospital where a consultant told him he would have an MRI within ten days. We are now ten weeks on and he still has not had the MRI. We built him up only to knock him back down. It is simply not good enough. Behind each and every one of these numbers is someone who is suffering. Older people are dying while they wait for hospital appointments.

Many people have told me their children are waiting for appointments to have their tonsils removed. There are children who are experiencing recurring sore throats, with all the pain that comes with them. Other children are waiting to get grommets and are being delayed developmentally because hearing problems are not being addressed. This is not acceptable but at least they are in the system, broken as it is. People in south County Kildare or Portarlington in County Laois cannot even get a doctor's appointment because there is a massive shortage. The Government is doing nothing about it. I have written to the Department and the HSE. I have asked parliamentary questions and the answers coming back state that these are private businesses and can operate where they like. That is an absolute cop-out and the Government knows it. We need GPs and we need them now. There is far too much hand-wringing and whataboutery. There is political will on this side of the House to address the shortage of GPs and dentists, and to address the ridiculously long waiting lists.

I call on the Minister to do the right thing by accepting this motion and acting upon it.

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