Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I assure him absolutely that stroke care and treatment form an area in which we will continue to invest. We will invest more this year and indeed in the coming years.

Somebody who has a stroke today in Ireland is 40% more likely to survive it than in 2011. Since 2011, we have gone from tenth place to fifth place in the EU 18. This is one of the many areas where we see patient outcomes improving in Ireland and overtaking those in the rest of the European Union and, in particular, the United Kingdom. We still do not have enough patients accessing stroke care units, notwithstanding the number of additional units around the country. Our target is to have 90% of stroke patients treated in a stroke care unit. The rate is now sitting at about 70%, so there is a 20% gap between where we are and our target. We have to make sure we put the resources behind closing that gap, and we will.

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