Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a matter which has been touched on this morning, namely, a school bus crash between Caherconlish and Hospital. I have spoken to some of the parents of those children. Thankfully, there are no major injuries. Many of the schoolchildren are at the emergency department in University Hospital Limerick. The most important point is that there does not appear to be any fatalities and the children are safe. There have been injuries. A car was involved as well, and the driver has also gone to University Hospital Limerick.

There is a legacy issue concerning University Hospital Limerick. We do not have enough bed capacity. That is why I have been actively seeking the addition of 96 acute beds. The new emergency department is up and running but we are playing catch-up given that the previous Government closed three emergency departments in Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's hospitals without having the new emergency department in place or the 138 beds that were required under the plan at the time.