Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is the first time I have addressed the new Deputy Leader since he got the job because I was away last week. I offer my congratulations. It is good to see him.

I pay tribute to Deputies Catherine Murphy and Shortall, who, I heard only an hour ago, are going to step away from politics. I hope we can all agree they have both made huge contributions to political life. While we have our political differences, they have both played significant roles. I think of their work on the repeal campaign and the leadership they showed at that time. They have been a force for positivity in politics in general and I will take a moment to wish them well in whatever they plan to do in the future.

It will come as no surprise to the Deputy Leader that the first matter I will raise with him on the Order of Business is University Hospital Limerick, which is a topic I bring up regularly. The most recent horror story is that people over the age of 75 have been moved in the middle of the night, between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m, out of the hospital or into a model 2 hospital.The reports from staff are horrific. They see pensioners crying and in deep distress, with no understanding of why they are being moved at this particular time. Nineteen such residents have been moved in the past 90 days. The hospital is denying that any such policy is in place but, interestingly, the National Ambulance Service is reviewing its policy on late discharges, which tells you that a policy is in place. It is reviewing it because of a number of complaints from staff. The most worrying thing is that staff themselves have been warned to stop complaining about the issue. They have been threatened with disciplinary action.

I want to be clear that the heart of this issue is the lack of capacity in UHL. There is no other reason why some poor unfortunate man or woman in his or her late 70s is being moved in the middle of the night. It all comes back to lack of capacity at the hospital. The figures get worse every year. When Fine Gael started in government, there were 3,500 patients on trolleys. We are heading for 25,000 patients this year. We were at the halfway mark yesterday, with 12,313 patients on trolleys. We are consistently told about the investment going in but, frankly, it has not gone in in a timely fashion. We are 200 beds short as I stand here and speak today. More worryingly again, there is no recruitment policy in place yet to staff the next set of beds that is due to come on-stream for quarter 1 of next year. I am happy to put on record here that there is no change of those beds actually opening in the first quarter of next year. I know that because I know how long it takes to hire nurses. I know that because the nursing unions have said to me directly that it is not happening.

We have delay after delay and it all belongs to the Deputy Leader's Government. There is a consistent failure to recognise the catastrophic issues with UHL, that we need a second emergency department somewhere in the mid-west and to take action in that regard. After 15 years, the people in the mid-west are still waiting. What is happening to those old age pensioners at the minute is unforgivable. I am calling for an urgent debate and an investigation into why that policy is in place at University Hospital Limerick.