There is growing frustration and anger at the continuing overcrowding crisis in our hospitals. This morning the number of patients awaiting admission is again at near record levels. Some 472 patients were on trolleys in emergency departments or wards this morning, and for the third day in a row Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda has the highest number of citizens on trolleys. It is clear the Government is not providing adequate resources.

Consider the scenario. A patient who is ill presents at a hospital and a clinical decision is taken to admit the patient, but Government policy prevents them from receiving proper medical attention and denies them admission. Instead, they are left for several hours or days on a chair or trolley. I invite the Taoiseach to make an unannounced visit to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, or indeed to any other hospital, to see the challenges being faced by committed health workers and the indignities that are being inflicted upon patients and their families. Perhaps he will take the time to visit a ward from which patients have been clinically discharged but who cannot be sent home. It is not safe to send them home because they are denied the services they require as a result of Government policy.

The Government has decided that this is the price our people must pay for its austerity policies. Meanwhile, last year the Government paid €7.5 billion in debt interest, including private banking debt. Will the Taoiseach accept that he cannot and will not tackle the overcrowding crisis in our hospitals while he pursues these brutal austerity policies?

No, I do not accept the Deputy's assertion. The Government is acutely aware of the challenges and difficulties in the health service. That is why an extra €650 million was put into the system for 2015. It is also the reason the Minister established a specific unit to deal with the emergency department trolley numbers. There were 400 at 8 o'clock this morning, and obviously that will decline during the course of the day. That unit met on 2 February to consider a strategy to deal with this. In Drogheda, for example, there is an acute shortage of beds in the locality to deal with delayed discharges from the hospitals.

The Government closed them.

This is one factor that feeds into the problem. I listened to an eminent medic say this morning that the attitude of the Government is that it will be all right on the day as we have had this problem for years. The fact is, however, that the Government takes this very seriously.

It is not in anybody's best interests to have people on trolleys, particularly elderly people. I have had first-hand experience of going to wards and emergency departments, although I thank the Deputy for the invitation. In the case of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, funding was approved for construction of a 12-bed surgical assessment unit and a clinical decision unit which will open next April. The acute medical assessment unit is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for direct access for GP referrals. The hospital is increasingly making use of relationships with other hospitals in the Louth and Meath group to distribute work more appropriately. A total of 15 transitional care beds were identified this week and five patients have been discharged to date. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital will be the next hospital to benefit from the Irish hospital redesign programme, and advertisements have been placed to recruit a new hospital manager.

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital joined the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland hospital group and will benefit from that networking and reconfiguration in the nearby hospitals, which include Connolly Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, Cavan-Monaghan hospital group and Louth County Hospital, Dundalk. The hospital has been collaborating recently with the private sector to accelerate the exit of long-term care patients, with 24 beds expected to come on stream by the end of this month. The hospital has also implemented fully the improvement plan agreed with the Health Information and Quality Authority as part of the special measures since 2012.

The Minister for Health asked for co-operation from front-line staff and medical personnel, and I thank them for that co-operation. This is an issue that must be managed in a way that will bring about a reduction in the use of trolleys in emergency departments and in the corridors of hospitals, but it is not something that can be fixed overnight. I am anxious that the Deputy understands that the Government does not have endless resources. If it was a question of money, the problem would have been fixed years ago. It is a matter that arises regularly and the issue is to be able to manage it effectively in the interests of the patients. That will be the priority for the Government. The special unit dealing with trolleys in emergency departments will continue to meet and access whatever beds are available, so delayed discharges can be discharged and pressure can be relieved on the hospitals. Again, I thank the medical personnel for their co-operation.

The Taoiseach should listen to what he says sometimes. He said it is not in anybody's best interests to have patients on trolleys. There is no need to tell me or anybody else that, particularly the families of these patients. The Taoiseach said there were 400 patients on trolleys this morning, but there were 472. He said a new module unit is being opened at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, which is the case, but last week there was no commitment of staff, especially nursing staff, for that unit. He said the hospital is trying to find beds for patients who have been clinically discharged, but at the same time the Government closed Drogheda Cottage Hospital and has yet to honour the commitment regarding St. Joseph's in Ardee.

Last month, I crossed the floor of this House and gave the Taoiseach a letter I had received from HIQA in which it pointed out that the recommendations of the 2012 report on Tallaght hospital had not been implemented. It said that if these recommendations had been implemented, the current risks would be significantly reduced for patients. It also said that it told the Department of Health and the HSE this. It said all of this in very clear language, publicly and in correspondence.

It is the explicit responsibility of the Department of Health and the Minister for Health to take prompt action to implement HIQA recommendations. When I asked the Taoiseach why the Minister for Health had failed to implement these recommendations, he failed to answer me. When I gave the Taoiseach the letter, he promised to write to me. He never did. I am still awaiting a letter from the Taoiseach dealing with this core issue, which is that HIQA states that if its recommendations had been honoured, this risk would have been significantly reduced. Will the Taoiseach explain to the House why the HSE, the Department of Health and the Minister for Health, in the face of this ongoing crisis, have failed to implement HIQA's recommendations on patient safety in our hospitals?

What about the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast?

In Deputy Adams's back garden.

Scandalous.

I have made the point that the Government put more than €600 million extra into the health budget this year. It takes time for that spend to filter out in terms of treatment for patients and facilities.

The Taoiseach has been Taoiseach for four years.

I am surprised that Deputy Adams did not get a letter back from me. I will see that he gets it today.

An sin é? Will the Taoiseach not answer the question now? He must know the content of the letter.

I will answer the Deputy's question in the letter.

What is in the letter? The Taoiseach should tell the House what is in the letter.

It will be a one-pager.

The Taoiseach is getting more like Bertie Ahern every day.

I do not mind sharing the correspondence.

The Taoiseach should acknowledge receipt.