Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes, we propose an amendment that it be deleted from the order. They should go back and get this right, consult with all the different groupings in the Seanad and get a delegation from the Seanad that is representative of the House. That is the proposal.

I wish to raise the issue of the health services. I am conscious that the Leader was the Chairman of the previous health committee and is very knowledgeable on the issues. I wish to speak about the hospital closest to where I live, Letterkenny hospital, where the full-capacity protocol has been deployed repeatedly this year. That means that elective surgeries are being delayed. As they are delayed, patients' conditions are deteriorating and they are waiting even longer. There are huge numbers of people on trolleys and more on waiting lists. In Donegal, there is a whole-of-system crisis when it comes to home care packages, community hospitals and right up to the main hospitals. This is because the system has been chronically underfunded for too many years.

I appeal to the Leader to invite the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to come to the House at the earliest opportunity to outline how he believes what has been allocated in budget 2017 is anywhere near enough to start to address the scale of this crisis. On behalf of my party, I ask the Minister to review urgently the budget allocation for 2017. He needs to understand that unfortunately what has been allocated will not go anywhere near addressing the scale of this crisis. It is not acceptable to anybody in these Houses to see elderly people on trolleys with their dignity taken away. It is not acceptable to see the limited time home care packages we give elderly people. It is not acceptable that we have run down so many of our community hospitals. The system is failing too many people. We need to review the 2017 health budget urgently. The Minister should come to the House for a debate so that people from throughout the State can relay the stories from their communities directly to the Minister until we have the issue resolved.