Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

From reading this motion, one thing is absolutely clear: an election is coming. There is a clear omission of the usual Government rhetoric of requiring clinical advice. What happened? Have those on all sides of this House finally conceded that the writing is on the wall or is it the case that, as the saying goes, even on the dogs on the street know that the mid-west needs an additional emergency department and that the statistics speak for themselves? Attendance at UHL is up 7.2% compared with last year. It has also been consistently the most overcrowded hospital in the country throughout the lifetime of this Government. UHL has seen increased pressure, including an 11% increase in patients over the age of 75 and a 20% increase in patients on trolleys during 8 a.m. checks. Surge capacity in UHL was triggered every day of last year. There is no person who has stepped foot inside that hospital who would not describe the situation there as "chaotic".

It is also important to note that when an elective surgery is cancelled, it is not reinstated in Ennis as quickly as it is elsewhere. Why is that? It is because a quarter of UHL presentations are Clare-based. The whole mid-west is feeling the pressure in UHL. People in Clare are the ones being asked to live with no alternative model 3 emergency department. There is no such service within 45 minutes for much of the population, and there is no end in sight. Clare is the only county in Munster with no access to an emergency department. What are we to the Government? Are the people of Clare the poor cousin's aunt?

UHL has 13% fewer beds than the average model 4 hospital and is expected to care for more than 431,000 people without a second supporting emergency department. Let the suffering speak for itself. We have lost countless lives needlessly. Poor Aoife Johnston died at only 16, which was far too soon. The Government of the day doomed UHL to struggle such that it has become a centre of chaos, which is a far cry from the centre of excellence that was promised. Can the Government stop making promises and putting things off until tomorrow and just be a Government of today?

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