I raise the issue of the dangerous overcrowding in our hospitals. Today's figures from the INMO are really shocking. As of this morning, there were 610 patients on hospital trolleys. That includes 81 people on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick, 58 people on trolleys in Cork University Hospital, and 50 people on trolleys in the Mater, in my own constituency in Dublin. The list goes on and on. Behind these figures are people who deserve better treatment and decent healthcare. This morning 610 families were worried sick about loved ones, whether parents, grandparents or children, lying on trolleys in a corridor instead of on hospital beds, where they belong.

I have told the Taoiseach on many occasions that his health policies are not working but it is clear that he does not listen. This September was the worst September on record with regard to hospital overcrowding. Some 10,641 patients went without a hospital bed. That is 10,641 families who had to see a loved one suffer the indignity of a hospital trolley. Landing in a hospital for whatever reason can be a very frightening experience but to find oneself in hospital to be told that one has to make do with a trolley only worsens the anxiety one experiences.

The INMO is absolutely scathing in its assessment of the current situation. It says chronic hospital overcrowding is placing massive strain on nurses and seriously worsening patient care. It says chronic hospital overcrowding is beyond unsustainable. All of this is on the Taoiseach's watch. It is a direct result of the policy choices of his Government. There is no point in coming in here time and again talking about supposed progress and success around the edges of what is a crisis. That is just not good enough. Publicity initiatives around Sláintecare are not good enough either because it has to be implemented in a way that makes a noticeable difference on the front line. Patients and their families are at this stage tired of the Government's ready-steady-stop approach.

Fianna Fáil might be well prepared to stand aside and allow this to continue but we will not. We cannot any longer tolerate a health service dragged into a perpetual state of crisis by the Government's policies and inaction. There are 610 people lying on trolleys today. There are 610 families worrying about them. Can the Taoiseach tell them whether he is finally going to take action that will actually work?

I acknowledge that overcrowding in our hospitals was indeed very severe this morning. I apologise to the patients and staff affected and also their loved ones, who deserve much better than to have to wait for a hospital bed. It is worth pointing out, however, that the vast majority of people on a hospital trolley this morning will be in a proper hospital bed before the evening is out.

During the first half of this year, we saw encouraging reductions in the numbers of patients on trolleys year on year but there has been a deterioration since June. It has been getting steadily worse since then, regrettably. Part of that is down to an increase in the number of people attending our emergency departments, but there was also an increase in the first half of the year when we had fewer patients on trolleys, so that does not explain it fully. When I spoke to the Minister for Health about this matter this morning, I learned that action is being taken. We are adding more beds to our hospital system. In fact, every year since 2012, we have added extra beds to the hospital system, reversing the policy of the previous Government to cut the number. We have been investing in the fair deal over the past week or two, recognising that there is a real problem in that area. I am informed by the Minister for Health that the fair deal waiting time is now down to about four weeks, and that is helping us to reduce the number of delayed discharges. Additional funding has been freed up for transitional care, allowing patients fit to leave the hospital to go into convalescence. Investment in primary care is ongoing to reduce the number who need to be admitted in the first place.

I am glad the Taoiseach has apologised to the patients and their families. That is the very least they deserve. More than an apology is needed, however. Those patients and others, and any families who finds themselves in this situation, actually want change and a solution to this matter. The Taoiseach comes in here as a matter of routine and recites the actions he claims to have taken and numbers of beds and so on but the reality is that the system does not have the capacity necessary to deliver the care that the patients need.

Today, Sinn Féin launched its budget proposal for 2020. In it, we include additional hospital beds, recruitment of additional nurses and midwives, and pay equalisation for consultants. All of these measures are well within the Government's fiscal capacity. Can the Taoiseach, in addition to apologising to the families and patients, give an absolute guarantee that there will be sufficient investment in our health services in the budget next week so we do not have to endure these scandalous figures time and again?

I outlined the actions taken. They are not claims; they are real. The Deputy can check them for herself. More money is being invested and spent in our health services than ever before. Per capita, the level is one of the highest in the world. More beds have been added to our hospital system every year since 2012. In recent weeks, there has been extra investment in the fair deal and convalescence to get more patients out of hospital. There has been an investment in primary care.

Over 120 primary care centres have been opened throughout the country, including in the Deputy's constituency and in mine. They are dealing with GPs to improve the kind of chronic care they can offer in the community. When the budget is introduced next week, there will be another significant increase in resources for the health service-----

What about beds?

-----and beds too. If this was down to more beds, more staff and more money, we would have solved it a long time ago. We have never spent more money in our health service. We have been adding extra beds for seven years. We have never had more staff. It takes a lot more than additional resources. That is a simple solution. If simple solutions worked, they would have worked by now. The concern I have with the Deputy's proposals is that the budget plans released by Sinn Féin today involve a €5.5 billion increase in spending. The country simply cannot afford that as it heads toward dealing with a potential no-deal Brexit in a few weeks. Sinn Féin is proposing to part-finance its plans through €2 billion in new taxes on savings, incomes, inheritance and just about everything that moves. That is not what people need as we head into a no-deal Brexit either.