Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Minister to share whether he accepts that there is an emergency at University Hospital Limerick. I can only judge by his response that he shares the Taoiseach's view that, in fact, the Government has done enough. I want to reiterate again today that this is not the case. The Minister is frankly delusional on this matter. I described to him, and he echoed, the facts on the ground about overcrowding and cancellation of surgery. I should also recall that the pressures associated with the lack of resources and capacity have real-life consequences for staff, patients and lives. Lives have been lost at University Hospital Limerick. I am sure the Minister knows all about that. Investigations into those matters are under way. What the people of Limerick and the mid-west region cannot fathom or accept is that in the face of that loss of life, lack of capacity, dire overcrowding and cancellation of surgery, the Government continues to sing the song and parrot the rhetoric that all is well. The resources are insufficient. Staff capacity is insufficient.

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