Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate the fact that he has gone to the best extent he can in giving me a response. I acknowledge this. I have a couple of key fundamental problems with the response. The measures taken to date are not working fully enough. Conditions continue to get worse and, in fairness, the Minister of State has acknowledged this with regard to the horrific video we have both seen.

When the Minister for Health was last in the Chamber, he was in denial about the INMO figures. This is fundamentally a massive problem. If he does not accept the INMO figures, which he was happy to accept when he was in opposition, then he really does not understand the extent of the crisis. In February, he insisted there were eight patients on trolleys when in fact the INMO figure was 78 patients on trolleys. The feeling of people in Limerick is that this is a Minister who does not understand the depth of the problem and has failed so far to get to grips with it. What I want to understand in particular is what additional steps he will take, for example, to utilise private hospitals if required to ensure the ongoing daily crisis in UHL is halted for the sake of the patients and their loved ones who, even as we speak, are struggling on trolleys again this morning.