David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the speakers, including the Minister and Minister of state, for their contributions. The Minister's contribution was much different from the script we were handed. It was less harsh, which may speak to the Minister's style. That is commendable but I want to address some of the issues raised in the written text, which were much more strident. I am afraid the Minister's officials or somebody over there had a bad day and decided that Sinn Féin was to be attacked for tabling a motion raising very important issues related to recruitment and retention in the health service and acknowledging the real problems we have in our emergency departments.

For the purpose of the record, I fully accept that Covid has had an impact on our health services. It has had an impact on the their ability to deliver healthcare in the way we would have wanted. Obviously, Covid and a number of other factors have caused the crisis in our emergency departments, which has led to the cancellation of scheduled care. This, in turn, drives up waiting lists. I think we can all accept that is the reality but we also have to accept that many of the issues related to recruitment and retention, the trolley count, which we had when the Minister was in my seat and long before, and the unacceptable waiting lists predated Covid. While I acknowledge that Covid has obviously had an impact in more recent times, it cannot be used as an excuse for the long-standing deficits in our health services.

The Minister's written speech specifically mentioned Waterford. I was the author of the motion and the written reply suggests I do not accept the good work being done at University Hospital Waterford.

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