Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

Nearly 1 million hospital appointments have been cancelled since 2022 under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and the crisis deepens by the year. This is according to new HSE figures released to Teachta David Cullinane. This is a damning indictment of the Government's failed health policies. Hospitals are understaffed, overcrowded and overstretched because the Government has built in recruitment restrictions that strangle the system. The Government promised 3,000 new beds in 2024. The funding has not materialised. The Government promised four new elective hospitals by 2027. They are stalled and will not reach planning until 2031. It is failure on every front. Behind every cancelled appointment is a person left waiting, worrying and suffering because the Government refuses to act. It is time to get real. Where is the plan to deliver the staff, the beds, and the investment needed to fix this broken system?

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