Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to talk about Sláintecare Action Plan 2019, the ten-year €2.8 billion blueprint for the reform of the health service that was published recently.I am staggered at the sheer brazenness of this Government in announcing in that plan three new hospitals to be built to tackle waiting lists. There is already a massive overrun in the children's hospital before above-ground construction has even begun. There is a recruitment crisis where more than 2,500 additional staff are needed for the full provision of mental health services across the country. If the State is to honour the commitments made under a Vision for Change, then 2,671 extra staff need to be employed in our mental health services. Hundreds of patients are on trolleys every day. I recently spoke in this House about a psychiatric facility in Kilkenny which is a damning indictment of our health service. I have raised concerns about people who presented with mental health issues and who were treated in accident and emergency departments because they had nowhere else to go. Entire regions have no access to life-saving medical help in the evenings or weekends.

Last month, a constituent of mine told me about their recent trip to the accident and emergency department in Waterford regional hospital because Kilkenny hospital did not have access to the care they needed. My constituent sat in an overcrowded waiting room for more than nine hours. There were 70 people in front of them who had seen a triage nurse but had nowhere further up the chain to go. They were eventually seen in the middle of the night in some kind of supply room or storeroom because there was nowhere else to see a doctor. The staff were doing their best but a particularly busy night for the ambulance compounded the problems. Some people who were left waiting began to abuse the staff. There was blood. There were people who should not have been left in the waiting room. Some patients could not take it and went home to return and join the queue again the following day. Despite enjoying one of the youngest populations and having one of the highest incomes in the OECD, Ireland spends much more per person than average and yet this constituent's experience is not unusual. Any staff member in any hospital in Ireland would agree.

I want the Minister to come to the House to debate Sláintecare before we make these promises again because we cannot deliver three hospitals. This is uncalled for. We need to make sure we deliver to ensure there are no more people on trolleys and people are not on long waiting lists. We have to deliver a service that is not there at the moment.