A few weeks ago when headlines were dominated by queues and chaos at Dublin Airport, there were 35 people on trolleys and chairs in the emergency department of University Hospital Galway, a scene which was most likely replicated in other hospitals throughout the country. This did not feature in the media at all. We are now experiencing a summer Covid wave with cases in hospital rising significantly in the last week and expected to rise further in the next few weeks. The Chief Medical Officer has stated that hospitals are under increased pressure and the only certainty is that we will need to live with this virus for a long time with surges in hospitals at certain times of the year. The problems with overcrowding and the lack of capacity in University Hospital Galway will only get worse as the year progresses. I ask the Minister to outline what is being done to improve capacity and reduce overcrowding in emergency departments throughout the country in the short and medium term.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has asked the HSE to prepare a comprehensive emergency department plan to address the issues in individual hospitals. He visited the emergency department in University Hospital Galway earlier this year. With the increase in the number of Covid patients over recent weeks, the consequent ongoing requirement to provide separate Covid and non-Covid pathways is putting pressure on the capacity to deliver. As I mentioned earlier in a response to a previous question, we are committed to resourcing those plans to take any measures we can to alleviate pressures on emergency departments, including University Hospital Galway. I will advise the Minister for Health that the Deputy raised the matter here today. We will keep him informed of progress in that regard. It is a very serious issue but we will provide the resources to our emergency departments throughout the country to help move that process forward.