Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Let us talk about what is actually happening here. In the lifetime of this Government, more than 1,100 beds, approximately 1,000 consultants and 25,000 healthcare professionals have been added to our health service. We are by no means where we want to be as regards everyone getting the right care at the right time but it is absolutely and undeniably the case that this Government has invested in our healthcare service, has grown it and is reforming it at a level we would have to go back quite a long way to see. Of course, there is more to be done but waiting lists are falling and the number of patients on trolleys is falling. More than half of the population has access to free GP care. Women's health services have been revolutionised. Really important things are happening thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our healthcare workers backed up by investment from this Government.

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