Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask that the Minister for Health be called in as a matter of urgency regarding the winter plan he announced a week ago. I recall that, last year, it was announced in the second-last week of September and it was a winter plan for October to March, yet this winter plan was only announced a week ago. That has raised concerns for the public, although it is welcome that there will be an increased number of ICU beds, which have gone from 300 to 350.

I was looking at the nationwide trolley count this morning. Some 274 people were on trolleys this morning and even though that sounds a lot, it is actually quite good because, earlier in the month, the figure was above 500. However, there is always a fear that it will go up again. To take some examples, Limerick University Hospital this morning has 45 people on trolleys, and that is after an extra 100 beds were put into that hospital. My colleagues, Senators Maria Byrne and Martin Conway, have brought this up previously, and the acting Leader will also know the situation in Galway. We need to have a serious discussion with the Minister on the management of hospitals. If we are bringing 100 beds into a hospital, we should surely see a difference in the trolley count. To compare that to Tipperary University Hospital in my home town of Clonmel, a 40-bed modular unit was started by the Tánaiste when he was Minister for Health and it was delivered by Deputy Simon Harris, his successor, and opened a number of weeks ago. Today, it has zero people on trolleys. It is expected to get an extra 33 beds in the St. Michael's unit, which acts as an overflow for the hospital. This just shows that, in the management of hospitals, one hospital in Clonmel has zero people on trolleys, or very few, after getting an extra 40 beds, but Limerick University Hospital, after getting an extra 100 beds, still had 45 this morning and last week had 95. There is a need for the Minister to come to the House to outline his vision for the next number of months.

A number of people have contacted me about weddings in the next weeks and months, in particular regarding the closing time of hotels. One of the biggest changes made in recent weeks is that residents' bars are closed at midnight. While I totally agree with that, I believe there should be an exception for weddings. If weddings are going to be on in hotels from 1 p.m. or 2 p.m., people are going to be there for eight or nine hours. What difference does it make if it closes at 12 midnight or 2 a.m.? Predominantly, residents at weddings are family members - it is a brother, a sister-in-law or people we are with every day. It does not make a difference. There is a real frustration for people who have had their weddings delayed three, four or five times in the past two years. They are now being told they can go ahead but, even though they are with their family every day of the week, they cannot be with them after 12 midnight.