Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)

First, I wish to put on the record my disappointment, to put it mildly, that there is nobody here from the Department of Health. The Minister for Health is not here and neither are any of the junior Ministers. I do not believe they are all abroad. The could be here. They will be here in the morning as well. It shows utter contempt for the people of Limerick.

This is an important day, 30 September. It is the end of September, which has been the worst month ever for people on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick since we started counting figures.

In my maiden speech in 2016, I spoke about University Hospital Limerick. Here we are again.

Today, as the Minister of State will be aware, the HIQA report on emergency healthcare in the mid-west was published. At the outset, I welcome the publication of the report, one that we in Sinn Féin requested. We have waited a long time for it. I thank HIQA and the ESRI for their diligence in compiling it. The report has presented three options to the health Minister in terms of addressing the capacity at University Hospital Limerick: the expansion of capacity at UHL; extending the UHL campus to include a second site under shared governance; and an additional model 3 hospital in the HSE Mid-West, providing a second emergency department. While I agree the first two options are the quickest in terms of addressing the immediate capacity challenges, I would urge that these be advanced in conjunction with the third option, namely, the development of an additional model 3 hospital in the mid-west region.

The report has verified that the core issue impacting healthcare delivery in the mid-west is inpatient capacity deficit, both in UHL and across the mid-west.

It goes on to note that this capacity deficit, coupled with the ever-growing demand for services, presents a risk to patient safety. In the legacy of the inexcusable decision by previous Governments to downgrade the facilities at St. John's, Ennis and Nenagh, this is where we find ourselves.

The HIQA report that we are discussing was commissioned by a previous Minister for Health following the inquest into the tragic and untimely death of young Aoife Johnston at UHL. Her tragic death occurred on an evening when the capacity challenges at UHL were evident. Despite her death and the following inquest, these capacity deficits have continued unabated. Already in 2025, over 18,000 people have been treated on trolleys and in corridors. All 18,000 of these people were deemed in need of a bed. It is worth remembering that they are friends, neighbours and family members. They are people who have been deemed in need of a hospital bed yet no bed is available for them. Last year, a record 23,203 people were treated in this unacceptable manner, and that number will be exceeded in 2025. Indeed, since 2011, when Fine Gael came into government, there has been a more than 500% increase in the number of people being treated on trolleys at UHL. The Taoiseach at the time said he would end the scandal of people on trolleys.

The people of Limerick and the wider mid-west deserve much better than they are getting. The staff at the hospital deserve better from Government Departments. The staff do a very good job at the hospital when they can, and I have witnessed this myself on numerous occasions. They do so under very challenging working conditions, where they navigate between trolleys packed together in hospital corridors. Some 2,386 people were treated in these conditions in September alone. This is the highest number of any month ever. It will be part of the Government's legacy. If we are hitting these record numbers in September, many people, including senior medical staff, are seriously concerned about what the winter months will be like for both patients and staff.

Today's publication is welcome. It points towards recognition of the problems caused by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments’ failure year after year to take the needed actions when it comes to UHL. I have a concern about Government underfunding of the health service capital plan in the national development plan. I am concerned that despite this report and the obvious need for additional services in the mid-west, the Government will not plan to deliver an additional model 3 hospital. UHL desperately needs more capacity and it needs it now. The mistakes made when St. John's, Ennis and Nenagh were downgraded cannot be repeated. I urge the Minister for Health to act urgently in advancing all the options outlined in HIQA's review. This review has provided the clinical underpinning to the solutions offered by my party, Sinn Féin, and healthcare managers in the mid-west. I look forward to discussing this further.

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