Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

No I am not. Deputy Shanahan seems obsessed with senior hurling and Cork. We will park that for a moment.

Since this Government came into office, there has been a very focused prioritisation and commitment to the south east on a whole range of investments. At different times when I have engaged with the Deputy, he has acknowledged that, particularly with regard to health. Then, every now and again, he goes back to the original script, which is one where he endeavours to portray the Government as not committed to Waterford or to the south east, and that could not be further from the truth. With the presence of Deputy Butler, as a Minister of State, and other Deputies and public representatives from Waterford, issues pertaining to Waterford in the south east are always very high on our agenda.

There has been very strong employment growth across the regions, including the south east. The number of jobs in the south east has gone up 30% under this Government. That is across all of the various agency employment and supports from all of the various agencies etc.

From foreign direct investment, FDI, perspective, the south-east region has been strong over the past five years with employment going up 25% among IDA clients, with 86 IDA-client companies employing approximately 15,500 people in the south east. There are 46 in Waterford alone, and then there is the Waterford North Quays project, and so forth.

On University Hospital Waterford, people paint pictures of decline and decay yet then one reads and see the staffing at the hospital has gone up by 42% since 2019. That is close to 829 additional people working in the hospital. The Deputy then says nothing is being done and all of that. It just does not add up. There comes a time when we need balance in public commentary. People also need to acknowledge progress when progress happens. There are 46 more consultants in Waterford hospital and 97 more non-consultant hospital doctors, 348 more nurses and midwives, as well as 128 more health and social care professionals. The budget in 2019 was €201 million for the hospital and it has now grown by €89 million to approximately €219 million. That is 44% of an increase in funding in five years to University Hospital Waterford with an additional 43 acute hospital beds.

The planning application for the surgical hub has been submitted. It is regularly praised as a hospital for not having patients on trolleys. As the Deputy said, the second cath lab opened in September 2023. It operates five days per week, Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m to 6 p.m., and 24 healthcare staff were provided to open the second cath lab. In September 2022, the opening hours for the first cath lab were extended to 8 p.m. from Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays. The Minister for Health has made it clear that additional staff will be hired for the hospital in 2024 to complement existing services and extend the opening hours, as I said. The point is-----

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