There is a very real threat to the health system in the coming months. The possibility of twindemic between Covid and flu has the potential to overwhelm emergency departments and hospitals. At the moment, there are 500 people on trolleys in emergency departments, including a number of family members of mine whose experience was criminal - criminal that people who have worked all their lives are treated that way. People in the HSE should be in prison for the treatment of some of the people who are seen in emergency departments. It is not the staff who are at fault but the HSE and the Government in terms of how people are treated in emergency departments. The Government announced the winter plan this week. I think it is a by-word for crisis management. Does the Tánaiste have confidence in that plan and the health system to treat people decently?

As a person who has worked in and used the health system, I do have confidence in it. One only has to look at the outcomes. Whether it is life expectancy, cancer survival, stroke, heart disease, maternal mortality or neonatal mortality, we have much better patient outcomes compared with the National Health Service of our nearest neighbour.

That does not mean that I am for one second blind to the problems that many patients face. When asked if that they are happy with our health service, the vast majority of patients give it very high ratings in the patient experience survey. However, there are patients who face real issues of access-----

These are people who were waiting three days for a bed.

-----whether it is as a result of overcrowding in emergency departments or being on waiting lists. I do not discount what the Deputy says for a second.

It is absolutely laughable.