Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I thank the Minister for his response. It is clear that a lot of work is under way in his Department and in the HSE. It is also clear that a lot of work is needed. My question is not whether the Minister, the Government or the HSE is doing something, but whether enough is being done to keep pace. Notwithstanding all the recruitment and all the efforts at reform, all of which are positive steps and absolutely necessary and some of which are long overdue and relate to issues that existed long before the Minister came into office, are they enough because, on the ground, what we see are ever-increasing numbers on trolleys and on waiting lists? There was a decrease in the number on waiting lists, which is acknowledged in the motion, but it was not to the extent hoped for.

Both the Minister and the Minister of State pointed to the perfect storm over the winter with the Minister of State stating, "Emergency departments faced the most challenging winter in recent years as a perfect storm of flu, Covid and other respiratory diseases surged." However, on Monday of this week, when I am told we had the lowest number of persons with Covid and when there was no great outbreak of respiratory disease, we had 574 people on trolleys in Ireland. As per usual, the highest share in the country, 82 of these people, were in UHL, while 76 were in CUH. On Tuesday, there were 565 people on trolleys, 68 of whom were in UHL and 88 of whom were in CUH. This morning's nationwide figure is 497. Some 76 of these are in UHL while 80 are in Cork. Those kinds of figures are unprecedented for the end of May. They are the kinds of figures we would previously have had in winter. That is my concern. The Minister of State said that it is important to bear in mind that we have one of the longest life expectancies in Europe and that a large part of that is down to improvements in the healthcare system. While it is important to bear that in mind, it also means that we have a growing population as people are living longer, resulting in more and more demand. I appreciate that it is a question of running to stand still but that is not enough. We need to run to get ahead of the curve. That is my concern.

I welcome the positive spirit in which the motion is being taken and the acknowledgement that MAUs will be very important in alleviating some, although not all, of the pressures on emergency departments, that LIUs are also important and that the hours need to be standardised. I urge the Minister to move towards a 24-hour service in both kinds of service but I appreciate that it is not as simple as just saying that we are going to open these units 24 hours a day. They need to be staffed and there needs to be beds. We cannot talk about expanding a medical assessment unit unless there is additional capacity. That means additional beds in Ennis, Bantry, Mallow and every other model 2 hospital. Many people in the mid-west are calling for the emergency department in Ennis to be reopened.

I greatly look forward to the day when it is but it requires an intensive care unit and practically a new hospital. It is not realistic to think that will happen in the lifetime of this Dáil or very soon. We will have to see it in time but it will not happen very quickly. What can happen more quickly is an expansion of MAUs. There have been increases, which I acknowledge and appreciate. More increases are necessary to avoid people having to go to the emergency departments.

Regarding the e-health aspect, as I pointed out earlier, we have cutting-edge technology in this country and leading research and development in the technology sector; if those people get sick, the people treating them will be confined to paper records without adequate digitisation. It must be addressed as a matter of extreme urgency. I thank the Minister for the spirit in which he has taken the motion, I thank the Social Democrats for its amendment and I commend the motion to the House.

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