Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Health the steps that have been taken to address the continuous issue of overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15888/22]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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51. To ask the Minister for Health the emergency action he is taking to address the number of patients on trolleys in Mayo University Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16866/22]

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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73. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he is taking to address overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17025/22]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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105. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the current overcrowding crisis in University Hospital Kerry. [16197/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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109. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to tackle emergency department overcrowding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16797/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 34, 51, 73, 105 and 109 together.

I acknowledge the distress overcrowded Emergency Departments (EDs) cause to patients, their families, and frontline staff working in very challenging conditions in hospitals throughout the country.

The current congestion in Emergency Departments is due to constrained bed capacity caused by combination of the high number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 (1624 nationally on Monday 28^thMarch), the increased number of delayed transfers of care cases which is partly due to COVID outbreaks in nursing homes and the very high number of people attending EDs in recent weeks.

The three highest attendances ever recorded in our EDs have occurred in recent weeks with attendances trending over 28,000 a week.

While attendance and admission numbers are now exceeding pre-pandemic levels, the continued requirement to provide separate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 pathways presents an additional challenge to patient flow in all hospitals and Emergency Departments.

The HSE is actively working with hospitals and hospital groups to mitigate the situation. The HSE is continuing to utilise capacity in private hospitals and is reviewing elective care to reduce pressure on bed capacity. Patients are requested to use alternatives such as their local pharmacist, GP or minor injury unit as appropriate.

Investment of €1.1bn was provided in budget 2021 to expand capacity, increases services and support reform and this level of investment is being maintained in budget 2022. A further €77 million has been invested in the 2021/22 Winter Plan. To date over 800 additional beds have been provided in acute hospitals since the start of 2020.

To provide leadership, governance and oversight of the implementation of the Winter Plan at local level and national level, the Chief Operations Officer has established the Integrated National Operations Hub (INOH) with defined membership from all relevant service and enabling functions with a clear Terms of Reference. For the purposes of coordinating the response to COVID-19, each geographical area has an Area Crisis Management Team (ACMT). Many of the Winter Plan measures will continue for the rest of the year.

The current situation in hospital Emergency Departments is under constant review by my Department through ongoing engagement with the HSE.

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.