Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Opposition is very determined. It is determined to ensure this Government does what it was elected to do, that is, to sort out the problems in accident and emergency departments, make life better for patients and not allow nonagenarians - people in their 90s - or, as happened three years ago, a woman in her 100s, to be left on trolleys for hours or more than one day. The Minister has cherry-picked some figures but the reality is that from October 2014 to October 2015, the situation has got worse. In a number of smaller hospitals, the situation has improved, although there are 33 people on trolleys in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital today.

The Minister has absorbed the criticism of him as a commentator and reflected it back on the Opposition. The reality is he is the commentator in chief and the health policy analyst, which he has set himself up as. However, that is wrong. He is the Minister for Health and he needs to solve these problems. How much political energy and capital was spent by Fine Gael over a period of approximately seven years before the last election promoting universal health insurance, which was called fair care? There were meetings up and down the country on fair care, which was supposed to solve problems in the health service in general but specifically solve the trolley crisis. It is has now bitten the dust, a year after the Minister wanted it to bite the dust. There was a year of pretence, with time and money wasted and with the problems in the health service getting far worse. As I said to the relative of a woman in her 90s who was left in a trolley for more than 24 hours, this is the price Fine Gael is prepared to pay for the budget giveaway that was criticised by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. Fine Gael does not mind this happening but the people who are queuing up or are in inappropriate accommodation in our hospitals are suffering badly. The Government is not prepared to deal with the issue. The nurses' unions have effectively said they have had enough. I note the Minister drew them in today to try to back up his argument. By calling for industrial action, the nursing unions have a different view from the Minister. It is a bit cheeky of him to involve them in support of his arguments.

This crisis is absolutely intolerable. It must be tackled but that is not happening. Some of the worst overcrowding was during the summer when traditionally that should not be the case because the winter is often worse. That was a direct result of Government funding cuts and the mismanagement of the Government service. How much energy, time and resources did the former Minister, Deputy Reilly, put into the special delivery unit, which was sending invoices across oceans to enable people not to pay VAT? How much time was devoted to that special delivery unit when the National Treatment Purchase Fund was abolished to pay for it, with no results whatsoever? Everybody in Cabinet, including the Minister, seemed prepared to give the then Minister, Deputy Reilly, a free pass because he was a doctor and knew what he was talking about. It was very clear that he did not know how to handle the problems in our health service.

The failure of the Minister to take definitive action to solve this problem continues to threaten the lives and safety of particularly vulnerable and elderly patients. It is rich of the Minister to criticise the Opposition and to blame it for criticising him. It is our solemn duty to stand up for those who are on trolleys or who may be about to be left on trolleys and to keep the pressure on the Minister to ensure he is not simply a commentator but does his job as Minister for Health, a post to which he was appointed by the Taoiseach. We must insist that he does that job and that he solves the trolley crisis.