Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I cannot believe the response the Minister has given this. I really thought that he was going to come in here, listen to what was being said and commit to bring forward a Revised Estimate for health because he will have seen by now the disastrous decisions that were made in the budget, but he did not. Instead, he has come in here to paint a picture that is not the reality on the ground. The reason I know that is as late as yesterday our party health spokesperson, Deputy Cullinane, and I visited Mayo University Hospital to listen to the nurses and people working in the hospital, and to listen to management as well. I am really glad that the Minister talks to people all over the world but he needs to get down there and talk to people about the reality they face. That hospital alone is operating at 125% capacity. Does that not alarm the Minister? The capacity is at 125% with exhausted staff who have not even had time to recover since Covid-19 and all that was expected of them then and that is right across the system. It affects the people working in labs, the people working on the front line, in ED and everywhere else. They have not had time to recover, and we are asking them to continue on working in an environment where the capacity is at 125%. The Minister does not think it is a problem that 880,000 patients are waiting for treatment. Thousands of them are waiting in County Mayo alone for treatment. I am shocked at the reply the Minister has given.

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