This issue is somewhat like a recurring decimal. Today the figures from the Irish Nurses Organisation show that 392 patients are on trolleys across the State. This is not unique, as last week there were 383 on trolleys. On Wednesday there were 378 on trolleys. In October 2004 the Minister for Health and Children announced a ten point plan to deal with accident and emergency departments with great fanfare. Seventeen months later, in March 2006, while still Tánaiste, she declared the crisis in accident and emergency units to be a national emergency. Today, however, nearly 400 patients remain on trolleys across the State.

It has come to the point where Beaumont Hospital has issued a statement asking people not to attend its accident and emergency unit except in emergencies, because of the extreme pressure on its services, as 52 patients wait for admission. This is appalling. The hospital now has more than 100 patients waiting for a bed to become available in a more appropriate post-acute setting. It is advising people not to attend its accident and emergency services.

We have had ten years of this from Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. We have had overcrowding, the spread of infectious diseases, hundreds of patients on trolleys every month, the figures for which are massaged, while operations are cancelled every year. Some 29,000 people are on waiting lists. They have been failed by the Government.

It is about time politicians in the Government parties, particularly Members, were exposed to what is happening because they are secreted away. I will go to Beaumont Hospital at 6.30 p.m. today and invite the Taoiseach to come with me. Let us get stuck in traffic if we must. Let us go to the accident and emergency unit and meet the patients waiting on trolleys who must put up with the remnants of what was supposed to be a world-class health service. I challenge the man of the people to come with another and examine this issue.

I understand Beaumont Hospital is having a bad day. If Deputy Kenny is going around chasing ambulances, it is a bad way to be. The Health Service Executive continues to report significant improvements in the number of patients awaiting admission as compared with the same period last year.

One would not want to be in a bad way.

The Taoiseach sounds like Comical Ali.

The average number of patients on trolleys awaiting admission in February to date is more than 50% lower than in February last year. However, a small number of hospitals, particularly Beaumont Hospital, are having difficulties in the delivery of accident and emergency services. There have been on average 19 patients per day awaiting admission at Beaumont Hospital during this month. At 8 a.m. today 40 patients were on trolleys in the hospital awaiting admission, five of whom were waiting longer than 24 hours. However, it is still a considerable improvement on last year; the plans have led to improvement. However, it is outside the range of what the HSE is trying to achieve. Out of 52 hospitals, I understand four are in that position.

One of the main problems affecting Beaumont Hospital is the unacceptably high number of patients awaiting discharge to a more appropriate setting. The HSE is working with the hospital to address the issues involved. The hospital has taken a number of steps to alleviate the situation in its accident and emergency department, including opening a five-day ward over the weekend, which is helping.

In fairness to the HSE, those working on the winter initiative and on delayed discharges, the figures are substantially down. Beaumont Hospital has a significant number of beds, 138 in total, occupied by patients whose discharge has been delayed. This effectively means they do not have a location. They cannot go home. Out of 550——

A total of 27 are waiting for beds at Mayo General Hospital——

In reply to Deputy Kenny——

——14 of whom are hidden away in a transit lounge.

——out of the 552 there are 130——

Some 27 people are waiting for beds at Mayo General Hospital.

I ask Deputy Cowley to resume his seat.

One man has been waiting for nine days in the accident and emergency department.

If the Deputy does not resume his seat, he will leave the House.

Old-age pensioners cannot get a bed.

The Deputy will have to leave the House.

It is unacceptable that 14 patients are on trolleys.

There is no place for discussion. Leaders' Questions cannot be interrupted in this fashion.

Some 27 people altogether are waiting, 14 of whom are hidden away in a secret ward. One man is waiting nine days for a bed.

I move: "that Deputy Cowley be suspended from the service of the Dáil. Is that agreed?

Not agreed.

It is unacceptable that——

I do not need Deputy Cowley's advice——

I ask Deputy Kenny to resume his seat. The Chair is dealing with disorder in the House.

Some 27 people are waiting for a bed in Mayo General Hospital.

Deputy Cowley is to leave the House.

It is not agreed.

If the matter is not agreed, a vote will take place on the issue tomorrow morning. Deputy Cowley is to leave the House.

We will vote tomorrow to cause him to leave.

It is unacceptable that 27 people——

It is not appropriate to come in and disrupt Leaders' Question in that fashion. The Deputy should show some respect for the Parliament.

Deputy Cowley is unlikely to become leader of the Fine Gael Party.

We had a relatively mild winter. Thanks be to God we did not have bird flu. There does seem to be a mild outbreak of influenza which is causing this problem. The Taoiseach has not answered my question or accepted my challenge. Last Friday a 90 year old man was admitted to the accident and emergency department at Mayo General Hospital having fallen in his house. At 1.40 a.m. on Saturday his 81 year old wife was contacted by the hospital to state the patient was being sent home. She has difficulty looking after herself, never mind looking after her husband. This is not the world-class service we were promised.

In a case from Galway, an 86 year old woman must wait two years for a seat which will allow her take a bath after she was placed on an emergency list by the Health Service Executive. In a case from County Cork, an appointment was made for a person on 15 July 2008. In heavy black print the letter states that if the person concerned is unable to attend, the outpatients' department should be notified on a number given in order that another patient may benefit. This is what we are at.

I repeat again that I will go to Beaumont Hospital this evening, which is not far from the Taoiseach's constituency. People have been told not to attend the accident and emergency unit because services are completely overstrained. Is the Taoiseach prepared to come with me to see what is happening on the ground there? I will give him backing if he takes appropriate action to sort out these matters.

The Taoiseach lives in Dublin North-Central.

Deputy Kenny is going to Beaumont Hospital at which I am a regular visitor and at several other hospitals. In the past few weeks I have been in hospitals in all of the provinces, as I am sure the Deputy also has. I am well aware of what the position is. I am also well aware that Beaumont Hospital is having a difficult day. I have given the Deputy the figures.

I must tell the House that the improvements over last year are enormous. More than 50% down is the number of patients waiting——

Falsified figures.

In reply to Deputy Kenny——

Massaged.

——the figures are extremely good across all the teaching hospitals, as well as other hospitals. I see the figures every day because I get the chart from the Minister for Health and Children. Of the 52 acute hospitals, about six have difficulties. The others are managing very well and the HSE is actively assisting them.

A range of areas around Beaumont Hospital operate the HSE d-doc system in north Dublin in centres in Swords, Hartstown, Ballymun, North Strand and Coolock. This is helping dramatically. Approximately 8,000 patients have been seen under the scheme. The HSE rolled out 90 of the primary care teams last year, with 120 this year.

A number of improvements have been made in the minor clinics, the rapid access clinics which were part of the plans of Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. They now open five days a week from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Referrals are taken from hospitals, including hospitals in the north inner city and Beaumont Hospital. The service will be extended to accept referrals from the other teaching hospitals and a wider network of general practitioners. To date, the service has supported almost 200 patients and is targeted to provide a service for 2,000 per annum. These measures are all hugely helpful.

A home service for patients from the five participating Dublin hospitals, as well as James Connolly Memorial Hospital and GPs in the north city and county area is available from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. There are community intervention teams. A whole range of points put in the action plan by the Minister for Health and Children are now operating very effectively.

Not in Beaumont Hospital

Allow the Taoiseach, without interruption.

It is a bluff.

The number of flu patients is up this week. I have given the figures for Beaumont Hospital.

This House should at least acknowledge the huge commitment, effort and success of the staff in the field every day doing a very good job and getting us through the winter with an excellent service.

It is the Government's commitment we are worried about.

We need more beds.

More beds.

The HSE has published the results of its national survey on the experience of patients using accident and emergency departments. The survey was carried out by the Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare with the RCSI and MORI Ireland. Some 76% of patients were satisfied with their experience in accident and emergency departments and 86% of patients with a choice of service would choose the same accident and emergency department.

A patient who reported he or she received less information, advice and pain relief than it was felt required were more likely to be dissatisfied with the service. Some 50% of patients who needed to be seen by a doctor were seen within one hour of the initial assessment.

Statistics.

A further 25% were seen within three hours. While there might be problems on a daily basis and we can all run around waiting for the day to go to a hospital when it is experiencing problems, thousands of staff are on the ground doing an excellent job and I commend them for it.

Hear, hear.

Nobody said they were not.

The Government is the lot not doing a good job. It is time to go.

They are doing their best.

Time to go.

The Government has no answers.

It has not delivered in ten years.