Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The budget made no provision for our four new elective hospitals including the new hospital in Cork. People on hospital waiting lists in Cork, and around the country, have waited long enough. Why are they being forced to wait even longer? Dr. Brendan Walsh of the ESRI tells us this morning that the State faces an immediate deficit of 1,000 hospital beds. The national development programme has a target of 260 beds per annum, a target which the ESRI says is too low. The Government will claim 261 beds will come on stream this year but only 162 of these are new additional beds. In reality, the Government has just about hit 60% of its own target. I put it to the Taoiseach that this is nowhere near good enough.

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