Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It was in 2019. Those were the figures at the time. I think Dr. Burke said at the time that the hospital needed an additional €40 million a year. I do not know if the Minister has figures to hand as to how close the figure has gone to €40 million since 2019 or if it has gone over €40 million. My colleague, Councillor Sheehan, said he does not believe anything will change until the resourcing issue is dealt with and that it is important the Government, the HSE and the Department of Health officially accept there is a funding and staffing deficit at UHL. He has outlined that about €40 million over three years will be needed to tackle overcrowding and to bring ULHG up to the same standard as the other five hospital groups. Beaumont Hospital in Dublin serves a similar population and a similar catchment area, but the difference in the number of doctors, nurses and administration staff is remarkable and does not seem to make sense. I am speaking of only one Labour Party councillor in the area, but there is a whole Labour Party councillor team in Limerick. I do not want to forget the rest of my colleagues, all of whom have called for the opening hours-----