Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. While I welcome the modular beds and the fact the enabling works have started, as well as the 98 beds that are due to follow, no short-term solution is being offered. People are still on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick, not just in the winter but all year round. There has to be a short-term solution to resolve the overcrowding and the conditions being endured by both the staff and the people attending the hospital. The solution the Minister of State has given is a long-term one. It will be another 12 to 18 months before these modular beds are built, but something is needed in the short term to respond to the plight of both the staff and the attendees at the hospital, especially in the emergency department.