Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will not push this matter to a vote today but could the Deputy Leader invite the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, to the House at some stage this week to discuss the debacle of the emergency department crisis throughout the country? This has worsened by 100% in terms of trolleys, waiting lists and so forth since 2007. For the last 15 months the numbers have increased consistently month on month. That happens to coincide with the same 15 months that Deputy Varadkar has been Minister for Health.

It is two years since the Taoiseach said he was taking personal responsibility for the health service.Since then we have had the establishment of a task force and the publication of a report. Eleven weeks after that report was put into the public domain, there still is no plan in place. The Minister continues to be the best pundit there is when it comes to the health service but, unfortunately, he has not realised he is a player. In fact, he is the captain of the team from a health perspective and the person from whom we expect leadership. Communities throughout the country require hospital emergency departments that work and are able to deal with patients, whether they are elderly people or young children, whether they are ill or have been injured in an accident.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, which co-chaired the task force, announced this week that having balloted its entire membership, 92% are in favour of industrial action. That action will take place on 15 December in four hospitals around the country, the identity of which will not be known for some time. It could happen in Sligo, in Waterford, in a Dublin hospital or anywhere else. What is certain is that it will not serve patients well. It is time the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, dispensed with the punditry and commentary and instead took action on this issue.

As I said, the situation has got progressively worse month on month in the course of his tenure. We saw the abandonment last week of the plan for universal health insurance, one of the components of the Government's five-point plan. There has been a doubling in recent years of the numbers on trolleys. There are ongoing problems with resources throughout the entire health service. Last evening, I spoke to a couple, one of whom is 87 years of age and the other 82, whose joint income from the contributory old age pension is less than €500 per week. They have had their medical cards taken away despite both suffering from illness. Indeed, one is facing imminent surgery of a serious nature in Galway. This, sadly, is the health service in respect of which the Minister, for all his capabilities as a pundit, has shown an almost unique talent to replicate the headless chicken approach of his predecessor, the now Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly.

As I said, we will not put this matter to a vote today. However, we will do so later in the week unless a three-hour debate is arranged without the imposition of prohibitive five-minute slots for Members to speak. We must have a meaningful debate on what tangible measures can be implemented by the Government. We have had enough punditry and commentary. What we need now is a functioning health service that can cater for people in emergency departments throughout the country.