Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Every single day, I meet nurses in hospitals and in community care who love their jobs, who provide great care to patients and who are immensely proud of what they and their colleagues do. You would swear there was not one who was doing a decent job based on what we hear in the Dáil and what we have heard here today from Opposition Senators. We do have real challenges. There is a real challenge with regard to access to emergency departments and consultants, particularly for outpatients. We know that. That is why we are responding like never before through the provision of money, beds, workforce, diagnostics and community care. Over the last 18 months, the number of people waiting 18 months to see consultants for an outpatient appointment has fallen by half. The number waiting more than 12 months has fallen by 40%. We are going to keep moving with this progress. We are going to reduce the waiting lists and, quite rightly, we are starting with the people who are waiting the longest, 18, 12 or six months. Progress is being made right across the board. Why? It is because our doctors, nurses, managers and healthcare professionals are stepping up to the challenge. We are providing them with the resources they need and they are responding.

I read the letter from the doctors at UHL and I agree with it. The letter they wrote was very reasonable. They make the case that the 2019 reconfiguration was not done in the right way and I fully agree. When that reconfiguration happened, there should have been a very large investment in additional capacity for the region in recognition of the new configuration and that did not happen. While is not the only cause, it is a direct contributor to what is happening in Galway, Limerick and other parts of the country. However, we are addressing that. Since 2020 or 2019, the budget for Limerick hospital has increased by 20%. The workforce has increased by 1,000. Since Covid arrived, UHL has gained 132 extra beds. They are there. That has happened since the Covid pandemic began. A further 96 beds are on the way. There is a new oncology wing. There are more resources for the emergency department teams and the hospital has launched a very positive measure, a new geriatric emergency medicine unit. That is not enough, however. That is why we are going to attach a surgical hub to UHL and why we are bringing in a new consultant contract, which will allow us to hire many more consultants and, critically, to hire them in ways that can lead to better outcomes and better access for patients. Colleagues have made reference to UHL's interest in two more 96-bed blocks. I have spoken to UHL about this. As I said earlier, we do not build healthcare infrastructure quickly enough in this country. It takes too long. I am working with the HSE, the Department, Government colleagues and the Attorney General to find ways to speed that up. We owe it to patients and to our healthcare professionals to get these beds and other infrastructure projects in place.