Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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327. To ask the Minister for Health for an update on the measures being taken to improve the situation in emergency departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35747/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I convened the ED Taskforce in December 2014 to provide focus and momentum in dealing with the challenges presented by ED overcrowding.

Based on the Task Force’s Action Plan, additional funding of €74 million was provided in April this year to increase the number of long term nursing home care places and reduce the waiting time for the funding of such places, as well as providing additional transitional care beds and home care packages to provide viable supports for those no longer needing acute hospital care. This additional funding came on top of measures already taken in Budget 2015, when the Government provided €25 million to support services that provide alternatives to, and relieve pressure on, acute hospitals. Further additional funding of €18m was provided in July for a winter initiative which includes the provision of approximately 300 additional hospital beds.

The Director General of the HSE will co-chair the ED Taskforce Implementation Group from now until March 2016. He has taken this decision in order to ensure that all relevant parts of the health services, including acute, social and primary care, are optimising resources in order to deal with the particular challenges associated with the winter months. A meeting of the Implementation Group took place on 12 October.