Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a good news story in the health area. I was glad to hear that in the past week there were 12 kidney transplants done in a four day period. It was a significant achievement by the medical personnel involved in the hospitals concerned. This indicates the work that must be done. When we entered government, there were on average 150 transplants a year. We need to target a figure of 300 per annum and progress is being made in that regard. It was down to a lack of planning that this occurred between 2000 and 2010. Referring back to what my colleagues said about waiting lists for children, there has been a lack of planning in medical provision for children in the sense that the birth rate has increased dramatically, from 60,000 to 75,000 per annum. There was an equivalent lack of planning for an increase in paediatric consultants during that ten-year time period. As a result, we are suffering the consequences. It is quite easy for Members on the other side of the House to criticise the Minister on this issue, but there was a lack of planning in employing additional staff and we now must deal with that issue. The Minister is dealing with it. It is something at which we must look and tackle in order to deal with the issues raised by my colleagues. No doubt the Minister will be dealing with it in the next few months.