Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept what the Deputy is saying in raising issues to which the Government needs to respond. What I do not accept is the characterisation that the Government's response is that there is nothing to see here. There is a lot to see here. We see it and we are trying to respond to it. That is why staffing numbers in the HSE have grown by 22% in the past four years. That is why we are spending over €23 billion on healthcare now. We are seeing results from that expenditure in waiting times and trolley numbers falling. Are there still problems in our health service? Of course there are and we are seeing those pressures in a very real sense both on staff and patients in Limerick today. We acknowledge that. It needs a response from the Government and it will get one, as well as from a management point of view-----

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