I wish to raise with the Taoiseach the unacceptable and ongoing delays in the payment of the pandemic bonus to healthcare workers. So far, only 1,867 healthcare workers have received the payment and there is now talk of the bonus's provision being outsourced in order to identify who else is entitled to it, for example, home care workers, nursing home workers, paramedics and section 38 or 39 workers. Will the Taoiseach please provide an update on when these many thousands of front-line workers will get this long-overdue payment, which is especially needed now because of the cost-of-living crisis?

We will take the remaining two questioners because we are out of time.

I will ask the same question. The pandemic recognition payment was broadly welcomed, but it is ludicrous that workers who do not work directly for the HSE have still not received their payments. The goodwill that greeted the bonus has largely diminished because of the delay. Workers want to know when they will get their payments.

For the sixth time since last October, I am raising the issue of the number of people waiting at Sligo University Hospital. There are 56 today. Sligo University Hospital is always in the top four or five hospitals in terms of the number of patients waiting. It has a capacity of 359 beds. Compare that with Limerick hospital, which is always the worst in class. The number of patients waiting on beds as a percentage of bed capacity in Limerick is 13%. In Sligo, it is 16%. This is consistently the case. While some progress has been made around a community hub, I am calling for urgent intervention this winter.

On the pandemic payment, which was the subject matter of the first two questions, 122,000 staff have now received the payment, representing the vast majority of those who are eligible and employed by the HSE. The HSE's figures reported for the week ending 9 September 2022 show that 85,078 eligible HSE staff and 37,589 eligible section 38 staff in voluntary hospitals have received the payment. I am told that the total at the moment is 122,667. That is the figure I have been given via the Department from the HSE. However, there are eligible workers in other sectors that have not yet received the payment. I will engage with the Minister in relation to that.

In terms of Sligo University Hospital, there are broader issues across a number of hospitals. There are a number of factors that can lead to overcrowding, for example, the flow through the hospital and irregular discharges. In some cases, governance frameworks have been a factor. Where the HSE has intervened on the governance front, dividends have emerged. I just want to put that into the mix. I am not saying that is the issue in Sligo. There are capacity issues and, unfortunately, Covid continues to have a long and lingering effect on health. That is a big challenge for us in the winter. I appreciate the point the Deputy has raised.

That concludes questions on policy or legislation and a great deal more besides.