Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. It is great to have him in the Chamber and I thank him for coming to discuss the matter I have raised, which is the chronic shortage of accident and emergency capacity in the mid-west. The situation at University Hospital Limerick is simply unacceptable. The 420,000 people in Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary must rely on one overcrowded and under-resourced emergency department. This morning once again, UHL has the highest number in the country of people sitting on trolleys awaiting beds. The people of the mid-west are fed up. We are fed up with the dangers our loved ones face. We are fed up with the intolerable situations and conditions that our nurses, doctors and other hospital staff are working in. We are fed up with constantly hearing for more than a decade that we have the worst hospital overcrowding in the country.

As I stand here, I am conscious of the heartache and suffering of families affected by this crisis. In particular, we cannot discuss emergency department overcrowding without remembering Aoife Johnston, whose tragic and avoidable death at UHL must be a wake-up call.

UHL is a model 4 hospital. There are nine model 4 hospitals in the country. They are top-of-the-range hospitals, with expertise and facilities to cater for large catchment areas. Is the Minister of State aware that every other model 4 hospital in the country has at least one model 3 hospital with a 24-hour emergency department supporting it? Is he aware that UHL stands alone in the country as the only model 4 hospital without a second emergency department in its catchment area supporting it? Is he aware that, of the five hospitals with increased trolley numbers in the country, UHL was the only one that saw a further increase last year and not a decline in its numbers?

I acknowledge the progress made in the term of the previous Government. The first of multiple new bed blocks - a 96-bed block - is under construction on the UHL campus and there for all who are passing to see, with further bed blocks planned and in design. Perhaps the Minister of State will be able to provide us with an update on it. Recruitment has commenced for when the new bed blocks are ready to open, which is welcome.

A surgical hub for elective procedures has been commissioned and given the go-ahead for Limerick. We have seen a 41% increase in staff numbers at UHL since 2019, and a 44% increase in the budget has been given to UHL to deliver services to the people of the mid-west. While these investments are very welcome and much needed, the demographics and population growth projections tell us they will not be enough on their own. I ask the Minister of State to convey to his colleague, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, an invitation to come and witness the crisis for herself and to hear directly from the management and staff in UHL about how bad things are.

I have one more question for the Minister of State this morning. What immediate strategies is the Minister planning to ease pressure on the emergency department in UHL, which, regrettably, is a factor for us every day of the week and not just at weekends?