Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will withdraw the allegation relating to corruption at the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's request.

The question here is of how many risk assessments were reported to the national incident management system. If this risk assessment had been reported nationally, University Hospital Limerick would have been under investigation sooner. Many Deputies asked for University Hospital Limerick to be investigated. The Minister went down at the time and found nothing wrong. I spent nights in that hospital after having a serious accident in February. I saw first-hand all the people on trolleys. It was being denied in different places that people were on trolleys, but I saw it first-hand. I have spoken about this to the parents of the person I named. My issue is that if a risk assessment had been taken out on Jessica Sheedy's operation, she would be alive today. That is my concern regarding the hospital. I have always said that the staff of University Hospital Limerick are not the problem.

Some €76 million has been used in legal costs since 2018 to cover up illegalities within the hospital. That €76 million could have been spent on nursing care and healthcare within the hospital. That is how passionate I am about this matter. I will not apologise if I come across as too passionate, particularly when a person could have lived if a risk assessment had been carried out. There is not one person here tonight, or in the Dáil in general, who would not want a proper risk assessment done. If such an assessment had been done through the proper channels, this hospital would not be in the catastrophic state it is at present. On the day I arrived to this Dáil, my maiden speech was about University Hospital Limerick. I am sorry if I have to roar it out but, by God, it galls me that it took two and a half years for the Government to finally listen and for a report to be done in respect of the hospital.

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