Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was disappointed to hear what Senator Darragh O'Brien said on the transplant issue. I certainly will follow it up, as I will be meeting with the Minister within the next 24 hours on the matter.

The employment of consultants is an issue I have raised consistently over the last four years. We face major challenges filling posts over the next two to three years. We also have challenges whereby hospital modernisation did not occur at a time when we had the funding. At 8 a.m. last Monday I attended a meeting with staff at South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital in Cork. Its three theatres need to be refurbished and replaced. The situation in which people working on the front line have been putting in requests only to have them ignored has been ongoing for a long period. It has happened across the board. It is something we must tackle now that the level of funding available for health is due to increase. We must work on that area. We can have all the consultants we wish, but unless the theatres and beds are in place, we cannot provide the service that must be provided.

With regard to the health service overall, it is important to realise the number of people who are going through hospitals. I have just received the figures for 2014. There were 1.18 million attendances at accident and emergency departments in 2014, which equates to more than 27,776 per week. In addition, there were more than 3.2 million attendances at outpatient departments in hospitals, which equates to more than 61,000 attendances per week. In that context, in fairness, we have a huge number of front-line staff who are providing an excellent service. That should not be ignored. We should acknowledge the work that doctors, nurses, care assistants and all those working on the front line are doing in the health service. Yes, there are issues that must be resolved, but we must give leadership in trying to resolve those issues and allocate the funding to provide the support they need.