Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the phenomenal work being done by front-line workers. I acknowledge the difficulties being experienced by patients who are presenting in UHL. Staff are doing their utmost. We have a capacity issue and we all accept that. The Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, is fully aware. These are two different metrics. If someone presents to UHL, I would prefer for them to be in a cubicle to be treated than to being on a trolley or waiting. That, by definition, makes sense.

I have spoken to the Minister for Health many times on UHL. He is fully aware of this and he is fully committed to getting the trolley numbers down, by whatever metric is used. The issue for us in Limerick and in the mid-west is that the hospital requires additional bed capacity. Equally, we need to look at other ways we can improve the patient flow through the hospital itself. I will take the point the Senator has raised back to the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. However, I utterly refute any question that the Minister is not committed to UHL, because at this stage I have spoken to him on countless occasions about the issues in UHL. He has visited it and he is fully committed, as is this Government, to getting the additional capacity into UHL in order that we can reduce the numbers of people on trolleys who present at the emergency department.