Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Our healthcare service is broken and not fit for purpose. It has been broken for a long time. The provision of a fully functioning healthcare service that can look after people and its staff should be a duty of care and priority for any Government worth its salt. The Government has utterly failed in this measure. The Minister referred to the years 2021 and 2022. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, only reported five days on which there were fewer than 350 patients on trolleys in 2022 and no days when there were fewer than 300. It is the ordinary people, those who cannot afford private healthcare, their families and friends and our healthcare staff who are suffering, with damning consequences.

The situation is no different in my county, Wexford, despite the personal sacrifices, double shifts and sheer determination of the healthcare staff there. We have seen recent reports of ambulances queueing for hours, with patients being treated in the back of their vehicles causing further delays, sometimes with devastating results, including even death, as ambulances are held up for hours. As I speak, the INMO is reporting 14 people on trolleys in Wexford General Hospital. Do we ever stop to think that our nurses should never have to conduct a trolley watch in the first place? This should not exist in a system that is well run. The announcement of a new 96-bed unit for Wexford General Hospital made for great press releases for local Government representatives but where is it? Will the HSE be able to recruit the staff needed to operate it? The serious recruitment and retention crisis in healthcare casts a significant shadow of doubt yet I see no proactive strategic plan to really tackle this head on. We cannot treat people's broken limbs with broken promises.

The real question is whether the public has confidence in the ability of this Government to fix these issues. Taking into account the evidence of statistics over the last decade, we see that the answer is "No". Sinn Féin has credible alternative policies, which have been brought through by Deputy Cullinane, our spokesperson on health, to solve the crisis in healthcare, and which we have constantly outlined. Our people cannot wait one more day. Change is needed now.

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