Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank them for that. I know first-hand from my own experience this year of how much work they do and the care and attention they give to the families and those patients who need it.

The Sláintecare consultant contract is transformative. A public-only hospital contract is to be welcomed. Then, in tandem with that, there is €23 billion in the healthcare budget for this year. We have increased the number of acute beds with a 26% increase in critical beds. Senators Gavan or Maria Byrne will come into the Chamber and speak about capacity in places like the emergency department in Limerick hospital. I see it in Cork. To be fair to the Minister of State, she has tried very hard to apply the model of care in the community at home. I hope that in the next round of Sláintecare, however, we will take that piece and augment and add to it in the context that the best place to care for people is in the community and at home. The Minister of State has been a champion of that.

We have an issue of capacity around emergency departments, however. They are chock-a-block. Whether that is because of the variety of delivery of free schemes to people now I do not know. GPs will tell the Minister of State they are swamped, however. They have an older and younger cohort in the middle. They cannot cope. They cannot get people. Staffing is a big issue across the whole country. In conclusion, rather than delay the House, we will obviously be supporting this as a party. The advance of Sláintecare is to be welcomed. I thank the Minister of State for being here tonight.