David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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126. To ask the Minister for Health the number of patients at University Hospital Waterford on hospital trolleys in 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018, by month in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46013/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Health, I am committed to maintaining the focus on addressing overcrowding in our hospital emergency departments.

My Department is working with the HSE to ensure the most effective response to the winter challenges to unscheduled care provision and I expect to be in a position to outline the detail of the winter plans very shortly.

As part of Budget 2019, an additional €10m in funding is being provided in 2018 to enable the hospital system to get patients home or to an appropriate care setting, before the end of the year, with a focus on patients in the over 75 age group.

I have asked the HSE to ensure that specific attention is given in the National Service Plan 2019 to ensure that activity is planned so as to anticipate and manage critical demand pressures, most particularly, in respect of emergency pressures in the initial and latter parts of the year.

€10 million in funding is being made available in 2019 to increase acute bed capacity in line with the recommendations in the Health Service Capacity Review. My Department is currently in discussions with the HSE, in the context of the National Service Plan 2019, to identify the sites for investment and the associated number of beds, as part of an agreed capacity programme for 2019.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked to HSE to respond to the Deputy directly.