Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With the Christmas season approaching, we usually see an increased demand on the health service and health system. To date, we have not seen any clear strategy imparted by the Government communications unit for how the Department of Health will combat this issue. Genuine and life-threatening challenges will face the health system. According to the figures of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, today there were 479 patients on trolleys. It is mid-week and the number is exorbitantly high. Patients on trolleys in the south of the country comprise 37% of this number. There seems to be a consistently high number of patients on trolleys in the south of the country, with no clear pathway provided by the Government to address it. I, therefore, call on the Minister for Health to attend the House in the new year to discuss trolley figures.

The second item I wish to address is also related to the festive season. I call on people to be vigilant as there has been an increase in petty crime throughout the city and country. Anecdotally, we hear that many elderly people are targeted by thieves. This instils horror in us all and is not something we like to see. I, therefore, ask people to be vigilant and ask the Garda to keep a presence to ensure people will feel safe when walking the streets.