Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I too want to be associated with the votes of sympathy for Dr. Martin Mansergh, and to Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee on the death of her mother.

I stand here regarding the HIQA report. I am doing this against the backdrop of there having been 147 people from the mid-west region on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick, UHL, at one stage over the past couple of days, which is completely and totally unacceptable. Back in 2024, I think it was late April or early May, the Minister announced a short, sharp review of emergency services to be conducted by HIQA. It was anything but short because 18 months later we finally get the report. I am somewhat baffled by the report. I was hoping there would be a clear recommendation to the Minister on what was needed but what we have are options. We have one option about expanding capacity. That is happening anyway. There is a second option about building a hospital beside the hospital. There is another option about building a separate hospital completely which would have its own emergency department. There are options and there are recommended options but where is the clear guidance that I was expecting and which the people of the mid-west were certainly expecting? I want to know what are the next steps. Are we going to have another review or committee or expert group to look at the options and to recommend an option? Is that going to take another 18 months to come back with a recommendation?

One thing I welcome in the report is that it said immediate action is needed. That is correct. Immediate action is needed because what has been going on in UHL for the last number of years is nothing short of a national scandal. I do agree with that but clearly the guidance I and the people of the mid-west were hoping for from this report is really not there. I wanted a clear pathway, a recommended action that the Minister would implement tomorrow morning. It is appropriate that the Minister would come in here and outline what the next steps are to deal with this issue and to provide the necessary services that are needed in the mid-west so we would no longer have 147 people on trolleys. These are people in their 70s, 80s and 90s. It is totally unacceptable. I want a debate here with statements on this specific report, which is the HIQA report into emergency care in the mid-west. I want it as urgently as the Leader can arrange it with the Minister. I hope we are not going to enter another lengthy process of reviewing with expert groups and so on as to what happens. I want to know what the timeline is, what is happening, which option is going to be advanced and escalated, and how long it will take. This is urgent because what is going on in Limerick is totally and utterly unacceptable.