Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government's disastrous mismanagement of our health service hit a new low this week. A staggering 150 patients were on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick yesterday morning in what is being described as the worst day for the hospital in its history since 2006. Yesterday morning, the INMO recorded 710 patients on trolleys and without a bed in our hospitals. We know what is needed to end the trolley crisis. Our hospitals are short 1,000 beds and need 500 more each year to keep pace with demand. Officials in the Department of Health and the HSE have identified sites and suppliers for these 1,500 beds but the Minister's Government has its head in the sand and will not fund them. Will the Minister reverse his disastrous decision to underfund the health service in budget 2024 and will he fund the 1,500 beds so that we never again have to see 710 people on trolleys, each of whom has a story to break your heart?

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