Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Along with the triple crisis of the cost of living, energy and housing, there is another crisis that demands urgent Government action, and that is the crisis in our health service, specifically in our emergency departments. Yesterday the president of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine, Dr. Fergal Hickey, said that this winter was likely to be "hell on earth" for patients as well as staff and that we face what could be an Armageddon-type situation. We know there have been 40,000 breaches of waiting times this year. That is 40,000 patients waiting more than 24 hours. Last Wednesday there were 596 patients, including 20 children, without a bed. Dr. Hickey went on to say that emergency departments have become warehouses for admitted patients and that this is a 365-days-a-year problem. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, described the situation as an entirely predictable surge and called for a laser focus on recruitment and retention.

Staff vacancies arguably pose the greatest threat to our health service. There are almost 900 consultant vacancies and no sense of urgency from the Taoiseach's Government on agreeing a new consultant contract. Our non-consultant hospital doctors, NCHDs, are leaving Ireland in their droves due to the serious issue of excessive working hours, with doctors not even getting paid for that overtime and many reporting burnout, lack of career progression and bullying.

Nursing is equally under pressure to retain staff. Faced with the pressures on our health services, the cost of living and the prohibitive cost of housing, it is no wonder so many go away to work abroad in health services that actually function properly and provide care for patients who need it.

In addition, and importantly, our acute bed capacity is 2.8 per 1,000 population, while the OECD average is 4.3. Ireland has the lowest number of hospital beds in the EU. Over 300 of the beds which were to be delivered by the end of last year have yet to materialise.

Incredibly, yesterday's meeting of the emergency department task force was the first since January.

How will the Taoiseach prevent what is likely to be an Armageddon in our emergency departments when Covid and the flu put even more pressure on our emergency departments this winter? Will he announce a fully funded winter plan along with the budget next week? What will he do about the recruitment and retention crisis in our health service, which needs urgent attention? What action will he take to urgently increase the number of beds to a safe level?

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