Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The first point I would make is that 40 years ago the world of health was vastly different from today. We have had far more productivity in the health service in the intervening years, particularly in terms of the revolution in day-case activity, day-case procedures, length of stay in hospitals and so forth. All of this has radically changed the capacity issue. One cannot compare the number of beds we had 15 or 20 years ago to the number of beds we have today and draw simplistic conclusions. That does not stand up to any scrutiny at all. We are treating far more people today than we ever would have and are doing so far faster, in terms of time spent in hospital. The massive, exponential growth over the last two decades in day-case diagnostics and surgical procedures has revolutionised health productivity. That has to be said.

The Deputy is correct regarding trolleys but it is a combination of capacity and human resource management, which is key. Governance is also key in terms of the health service, in respect of dealing with the huge increase in disease this year.

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