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

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for reminding us of the horrors of nuclear war, and for his comments in respect of the terrible war being waged upon the people of Ukraine as a result of the illegal and immoral invasion of their country by the Russian Federation.

Closer to home, like many others, I find myself struggling to comprehend the savagery and depravity of last night's attack on Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, a man whose day job is finding and prosecuting those responsible for the worst and most dangerous threats to his community. This is a man who was spending his free time working with young people at a sports centre, and coaching them in teamwork, friendship and fitness. He was there with his young son and was putting away the equipment when two individuals with weapons walked up and fired multiple shots into his body. They shot him again and again.

They did everything in their power to try to kill him in front of his young son and other children. The very best sort of a man was attacked by the very worst. I am sure we in this House are all united in articulating our absolute and heartfelt disgust at and condemnation of those behind the attack last evening. As Deputy Cullinane said, anybody who has any information at all is duty-bound to give it to the policing authorities. We know that many thousands of others understand the trauma that such attacks and similar experiences over the decades have caused. We do not want to go back to that and we will not go back to it. I welcome the joint statement of all the political parties in the North that was issued this morning in response to this.

Ionsaí uafásach ab ea é gan dabht agus tharla sé os comhair a mhic agus os comhair daoine óga. Níl aon amhras ann ach go n-oibríonn John Caldwell go dian dícheallach, lá i ndiaidh lae, chun muintir an Tuaiscirt a chosaint. Táimid ag smaoineamh air agus ar a theaghlach. Na daoine atá freagrach as an ionsaí seo; caithimid iad a thabhairt os comhair na cúirte.

In respect of the health services and in response to the Deputy's comments, I make the overall point that there has been unprecedented investment in our health services since this Government came into office. The emergency waiting times and the large numbers attending are a cause for concern, particularly in the context of University Hospital Limerick, Cork University Hospital, Mercy University Hospital and other hospitals. It also needs to be pointed out that activity levels in our hospitals have gone up significantly. Post Covid, there has been a significant impact on our hospitals. Covid continued to have an impact over the recent winter period.

More than 1,000 beds have been provided since this Government came into office. Deputy Cullinane neglected to mention that and gave the impression that no beds at all have been provided. We need to do more, however. In answer to the Deputy's question, we will provide more beds and more capacity. A focus now for Government and the Minister for Health is the provision of additional acute hospital beds through modern methods of construction that will deliver those beds much more quickly than would be the case using conventional methods of procurement and provision. The Deputy must acknowledge that the enhanced community care programme has been a significant success in bringing a focus to much of our healthcare, including primary care, which is working strongly with enhanced community care. Ultimately, that is the most effective way to prevent overcrowding in emergency departments and to give people treatments in the right location at the right time by the right physicians.

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