Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Waiting lists are completely out of control. They have reached the point of being dangerous and people are suffering because of the Government's failure. The lack of action on this issue is failing children, the elderly, families and those who work in our hospitals. The cost of this inaction is having a real impact on waiting times and people's lives. The Minister's latest plan will not put a dint in the numbers. If we have learned anything from previous plans, it is that its targets will be missed once again.

In my local hospital, Beaumont Hospital, more than 31,000 people are on hospital waiting lists. Nearly 7,000 of these people are waiting more than six months just to be seen. I think the Minister will agree this is totally unacceptable and ordinary people are paying the price. A constituent contacted my office yesterday who was recently in Beaumont Hospital's accident and emergency department. The constituent spent ten hours waiting to be seen. When he was seen, he was asked whether he had any health insurance. When he told them he had not, he was advised to get a loan to go private, which would cost him €7,000. The Minister will agree that says a lot about the state of our hospitals.

We all know the staff are doing their best but are being held back by decision-makers who cannot get their act together. This motion sets out what a Sinn Féin Minister would do to tackle this crisis and to give hope that things will change for the better. We need to see a proper plan which looks at why we cannot get the staff and how we can increase the training places. Healthcare workers are burnt out and cannot get a break. This needs to change.

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