Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like the Taoiseach, I hope it will make a positive change but the change it did make was the cancellation of surgeries in Ennis, two theatres lying idle and specialist staff being redeployed. There is something badly wrong with the utilisation of the model 2 hospitals.

The Taoiseach talked about figures and the Minister for Health talked about 1,000 people in the UL Hospitals Group. I received other figures yesterday saying just 60 of the 3,000-odd whole-time equivalent positions created in 2022 were in the UL group, notwithstanding the fact that UHL is the most consistently overcrowded hospital in the country. This time last year we learned there were no additional beds to be provided there, despite the fact they were being provided in less crowded hospitals.

This has an impact on real people. I have a letter from a 78-year-old woman who presented at Ennis Hospital and was told that, because there was no orthopaedic consultant available, she had to go to Limerick. She was on a trolley in Limerick for days. That is just another statistic but it is a real life affected by the fact we are not utilising our model 2 hospitals in the region to the extent we can and should.

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