Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail)

I rise today for the first time to represent the Fianna Fáil Party as leader on the Order of Business. It is absolutely fitting that I would raise as my first issue the biggest issue for us in the mid-west, as the Leas-Chathaoirleach will be aware, which is the issue of the University Hospital Limerick, UHL, overcrowding at the accident and emergency department, and the consequent impact on all of us living in counties Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. I ask for the Minister for Health to come to the Chamber for a debate on the accident and emergency crisis in the mid-west. Crucially, I would like the Minister to address what immediate strategies she is going to be bringing forward to tackle the bed shortages in UHL across this coming winter period. I appreciate HIQA will be bringing forward a report - we expect it this month - which will have recommendations on long-term strategies to solve the accident and emergency crisis. We will not, however, see any magical bed blocks built by Christmas 2025, so I wish to ask the Minister what strategies she is proposing to tackle the issue this Christmas.

We welcome the opening of the Bon Secours private hospital. It will be a hospital handling day cases and so, unfortunately, will not have an accident and emergency. We do, however, welcome that new tremendous facility that is being built in Limerick, which will be the first private hospital of its scale across the mid-west and will be opening soon. There is a concern among people living locally that this will see an exodus of healthcare workers from UHL to private hospitals. I wish to ask the Minister also what strategies she is going to employ to ensure that does not happen to us and worsen and deepen the crisis we are experiencing. Unfortunately, we know that, according to the HSE's own medical workforce report 2023-2024, UHL, Limerick and the HSE mid-west has the lowest number of consultants per 100,000 of population across the six healthcare regions. This is a real concern to us. I would appreciate the Minister's time to discuss it.

The second matter I raise briefly is the demand for better public transport services in Limerick. I have made a submission to the acting CEO of the NTA around the expansion of those facilities for the Limerick metropolitan region. I would appreciate the time of the Minister for Transport to discuss that issue.