Last week in an interview with "Morning Ireland", Dr. Fergal Hickey pointed out that 300 to 350 people die every single year as a result of having been placed on hospital trolleys. He referred to the excessive mortality rate because of the warehousing of people on trolleys. He said the system was sending out a message that the abnormal has become normal. He said the system has been run down consistently since 1997 and a shortage of beds kills people.

The previous day, on Wednesday, less than a week ago, 528 people could not get a hospital bed and there were 545 delayed discharges from hospitals. Dr. Fergal Hickey suspected the figure was greater. Remember, he pointed out, it is only November and winter comes every year, although it seems to take each Government by surprise. Leaving an over-75 year old patient on a hospital trolley for more than 12 hours leads to a longer stay in hospital, a number of medical complications and a much less likely chance of going home. Dr. Fergal Hickey said between 50 and 60 people are regularly on trolleys in Galway and Limerick hospitals.

In that context, the nurses are planning to go on strike because of intolerable conditions. University Hospital Galway is, supposedly, a centre of excellence, serving a region of 1 million people but it has only one MRI scanner. It has extraordinary lists for outpatients. The clinical director has said the hospital is not fit for purpose. This is the same hospital that the Taoiseach could not find time to visit on his two recent visits to Galway. Instead, he visited a private establishment. Prior to the general election, he visited the hospital's accident and emergency department, as did the leader of Fianna Fáil, and said it was not fit for purpose.

The accident and emergency department, a report on which was never published, is simply a symptom of a malfunctioning system. A review is under way at University Hospital Galway into an amputation performed in a general ward recently.

It has just completed a review of approximately 200 patients that raises most serious concerns over the surgery carried out. Patients died in two cases and most serious concerns were raised regarding four. It is stated that in two cases of the four that caused great concern, the course of action by the surgeon led to the need for further surgery and caused untold suffering and hastened and the demise of both patients. There are references to a lack of care, a lack of basic care, and a lack of follow-up care. The system is malfunctioning because it is being constantly run down. I ask the Taoiseach not to waffle to me. He should please hear what I am saying and tell me he will visit the hospital, unplanned, as a matter of urgency and that he will take immediate action on operational issues concerning resources and the need for a new hospital, for which the clinical director has asked at a meeting of an Oireachtas committee last week and last year.

It is unacceptable to have on trolleys the number of patients about which the Deputy spoke. This has been a recurring issue in this House on so many occasions over the past two decades. It is not acceptable that this happens. It is because of the system that has evolved over the years and the attempts over many years to rectify the position. This morning, 22 November, there were 18 on trolleys at 8 a.m. in Galway University Hospital.

There were 54 in Cork.

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, had 19, and the national total was 421, which is unacceptable. In response to a question on this a week ago, I stated there were no trolleys in Beaumont Hospital on the day. This was a particular advance on the position that always applied in that Beaumont. Today in Wexford, there are three. This is a case where a new emergency department has been put in place.

The Deputy asked me not to waffle to her. I will not but I do not like to answer questions on when I will visit the hospital. I will visit University Hospital Galway but I will not tell anybody when I do so. I would be very happy to do that.

He has to tell somebody, surely.

Every time I announce a visit to a hospital, I always hear it alleged that patients were moved out or on so they could not be seen. That is not waffle. I will visit Galway hospital and do so in my own time when I choose to do so. I will be very happy to engage with the nurses and the staff.

A number of significant projects have been completed at University Hospital Galway in recent years. These include the clinical research facility, the upgrade to the maternity unit and the cystic fibrosis outpatient department, which was completed in 2014 and is now operational. Thirty additional beds were opened in early 2016 as part of the Minister's winter initiative for 2015-16.

The Programme for a Partnership Government states a new emergency department for University Hospital Galway is currently being designed with a view to funding for construction being provided as part of the 2017 capital plan review. As it stands and as the Deputy is well aware, a number of design plans have been completed and they are at the cost-benefit analysis stage in the HSE. The Minister will visit the hospital shortly and further update staff and the management.

Construction of a 75-bed clinical ward block, with additional capacity, is under way. This project will provide 75 single en suite bedrooms, including six isolation rooms, which will result in a significant improvement in bed quality and infection control within University Hospital Galway. The projected date for the completion of construction is the end of this month, 2016, followed by commissioning and equipping. The Department understands that once this development is completed, it will enable other wards at University Hospital Galway to be closed for refurbishment, and approval is being sought to keep one of the old wards open in an escalation capacity for approximately 30 beds to support hospital activity this winter. That is being considered by the HSE as part of the service plan estimates for 2017 and also as part of its winter planning submission.

The Deputy says there is a need for a new hospital. The population of Galway and the region, which now caters for the greater expanded region, is an issue that certainly warrants consideration for the time ahead.

It seems as if some people imagine, or some people perceive, that one can provide a new hospital overnight. Such is not the case.

I despair, but I do not have the luxury of giving in to it because I have a voice in this Chamber. The Taoiseach is presiding over the deaths of people. I do not know whether he heard a single word that I said. Galway has been operating on code black, which is the highest emergency code, for months. A full capacity protocol is in operation due to overcrowding. The accident and emergency situation is a symptom.

I have not asked for a new hospital. The clinical director has asked for a new hospital to be planned. I do not know whether the Taoiseach heard me say that an audit was conducted regarding an amputation on a ward and that 198 surgical patient cases had been reviewed. The review covered January 2013 to November 2014, but we only heard about it in 2016. Unfortunately, I know about it intimately.

I will repeat what I said. The Taoiseach might do me the courtesy of hearing what I say, stepping out of his bland rhetoric and apologising to those who have suffered or died. Let me repeat-----

I thank the Deputy.

I am sorry, a Cheann Comhairle, but this is my last point. The review covered four cases in particular and, separately, 30 other cases. Of the four, two caused great concern. In each, the course of action taken by the surgeon led to the need for further surgery, caused untold suffering and hastened the demise of the patient. There are many other cases in the hospital, which has only one MRI machine, yet the Taoiseach does not apologise.

I thank the Deputy, but she must conclude.

I have every empathy with people who are pressurised in patient situations in every hospital. These issues have arisen not just in University Hospital Galway, but in other locations around the country from time to time. Deputy Connolly is well aware of this. Obviously, as somebody who has been a visitor to Galway on many occasions to see patients there in different stages of distress, one would like to think that we were in a position to have facilities that would provide the very best level of attention for everybody at all times, and that is the reason there is also work under way on the construction of the acute mental health department, on the radiation oncology project, which is under way, on the blood and tissue laboratory, which is at design stage, on the replacement of a cath lab, on the appointment of a design team to work on the accommodation reconfiguration and on the replacement of the current CT radiotherapy and radiology facilities.

Yes, I visited the Bon Secours Hospital in Galway the other day. I was there five years ago also. The process of building the new cath lab is well under way, and I think that is going to provide extra facilities for Galway and for patients who need them.

I will visit the hospital.

The Taoiseach did not visit it. He said that he did not have the time. He had time to go to the private hospital.

Deputy, please.

I empathise completely-----

You are an absolute disgrace.

Deputy, that is not in order.

I empathise completely with the points that the Deputy makes and I have heard other people call for the provision of a new hospital-----

The clinical director of the hospital-----

-----to be located on the Merlin Park site, but obviously there are serious pressures in University Hospital Galway.

The Taoiseach must conclude.

Many of these are being addressed and I hope that those improvements will bring about a better situation for people who have to undergo treatment in University Hospital Galway. Of course, I offer my condolences, no more than anyone else would, for people who unfortunately die in hospital, as happens all over the country.