Will the Taoiseach and the Government react to the appalling situation in the south east, especially in Tipperary, with the trolley crisis in Cork University Hospital, CUH? The number of people on trolleys last week was appalling. The figure for today in University Hospital Limerick, which serves north Tipperary, is 55 and 30 in South Tipperary General Hospital. South Tipperary General Hospital, or St. Joseph’s as I like to call it, is a much smaller building and 30 people on trolleys in that hospital is as bad as 100 in CUH because it is an old building. While I welcome that work is progressing on a 40-bed modular ward, there is no sign of staff being appointed. The winter that has just passed is the third since this was promised and it is still not delivered. This situation cannot be sustained. The staff are at breaking point and people are fearful going into accident and emergency departments. The Taoiseach will say he worked there years ago and in three other hospitals but I am talking about now. I am not complaining about last year or the year before that. It is now spring, we are heading into summer weather and there are no major scares in terms of health issues. The situation is appalling, and the pressure is ongoing on the front-line staff. It is not a good service for the people of Tipperary and I will not accept it.

I call Deputy Ferris and then Deputy Scanlon on the same matter.

At 9.20 a.m. this morning, I was contacted by a staff member in University Hospital Kerry who told me that at that time, there was total mayhem in the accident and emergency wing of the hospital. There were 36 patients on trolleys and 12 patients on chairs, some of them since yesterday evening. Subsequent to that, I was contacted by my daughter, Toiréasa, who is a councillor. She told me she had been contacted by relatives of the patients and that there is major concern for their well-being. In the interest of health and safety, would it not be appropriate to call in the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, to examine the situation?

On the same issue, this morning in Sligo University Hospital there were 50 people on trolleys-----

Shocking.

-----despite the fact that a commitment was given 12 months ago to increase bed numbers in Sligo University Hospital.

The Taoiseach should put away the phone and listen to the Deputy.

The Taoiseach will say we do not give solutions but one solution would be to provide funding for home care for people to allow them be discharged from hospital. It costs approximately €125 a week to keep somebody in their home. It is costing €7,000 a week for a hospital bed. What is happening at the moment is economic madness. I know of people who have received letters stating that they were entitled to home help but that they were on a waiting list. I am aware of people who passed away while on that waiting list. What is happening is absolutely crazy.

I raise again the issue of Sligo University Hospital where 50 people are on trolleys today. There were 41 on trolleys yesterday. In the past week there have been over 30 people on trolleys. Bed capacity is central to this issue. There is a proposal from the hospital to build a new 50-bed unit. Deputy Tony McLoughlin and I met the Minister last week and while he has said he wants to progress that, we need action right now to resolve the problem. As for what can be done right now, there are two advanced nurse practitioners in the accident and emergency department. They carry out work such as treating cuts and bruises and small injuries with which people come into the hospital. The hospital has applied to have two more advanced nurse practitioners appointed and that request has been turned down twice. If that were done, it would relieve the situation immediately in the accident and emergency department in Sligo University Hospital. It is a practical solution to the problem. It will not resolve it but it is something that needs to happen and can happen right now if those appointments were approved.

I answered questions on this earlier-----

You did.

-----on Leaders' Questions, so I do not want to repeat the answers I gave earlier. I was on my phone to check out the HSE app, which indicates that overcrowding has been easing throughout the day, as it does, and that the number of patients on trolleys now is down to around 350.

Amazing.

However, that is still far too many.

With regard to Clonmel, as the Deputy acknowledged, a 40-bed ward block is now under construction.

What about staff?

I went to see it when I visited Clonmel a few weeks ago. When it is completed it will be staffed but we know from bitter experience throughout the country that merely providing additional beds and additional staff does not solve the problem. We need extra beds. We need to make sure that beds are used efficiently, that the length of stay is reduced and that patients are not waiting days for necessary investigations to see specialists for interventions. A hospital that has a length of stay of six days needs more beds than one with a length of stay of four days but no more people get treated.

The third element which I mentioned is ensuring we do much more in primary care services and the community because in Ireland we do too much in hospitals and not enough in the community. That is why we concluded an agreement with general practitioners last week.