I raise the issue of University Hospital Limerick too. The severe pressure on the hospital from serving the entire mid-west region is evident today. Some 62 patients are lying on trolleys in hospital corridors and management has taken the decision to cancel all elective procedures as a result. That is bad enough in ordinary times but in the Covid scenario that we are now living in, it is utterly unacceptable. I ask that some of the €600 million that was announced yesterday, as we are heading into the winter flu season, would be used to reopen the emergency department in Nenagh for 24 hours a day. This would take pressure off University Hospital Limerick, reducing the overcrowding and decreasing waiting times to be seen by a medical professional. It would allow more efficient operations in the mid-west region. A county the size of ours deserves and needs this.

The €600 million that has been allocated to health is designed to try to alleviate the pressures which Deputy Cahill has outlined, which I acknowledge, especially in Limerick. He has raised issues regarding funding for Nenagh hospital. I will engage with the Minister for Health about this and with the Department and HSE with a view to what can be done in the short term to alleviate these pressures.