Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government is breaking records for all the wrong reasons in our health service. For the first time in our history, we have had a summer trolley crisis, with record wait times. We have seen people aged 75 and over waiting for six or nine days on a trolley. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, said just this afternoon that more than 100,000 patients have waited on trolleys so far this year.

It is clear we need more hospital beds, yet one in four beds that are funded have still not been delivered. Over 1,000 patients in hospital cannot get access to home care and so their discharge is delayed. What we have is chaotic. We need investment in our hospitals but also in home and community care. Other than simply having a winter plan, what meaningful action is the Government proposing to meet this crisis head on?

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