Our hospitals are under massive pressure. Record waiting lists, a year-round trolley crisis and embedded problems in recruitment and retention mean the health service is creaking at the seams. Nowhere is this pressure more acutely felt than at University Hospital Limerick. Yesterday, there were 143 patients on trolleys at the hospital. Today, people are being urged to avoid the emergency department. Scheduled surgeries at the hospital have been deferred while staff struggle to deal with the high levels of overcrowding. Of course this is nothing new for the people of Limerick or the wider region. Last month an incredible 2,247 people were treated on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick. That is the highest number on record for any hospital for any month, ever. Sadly, a state of permanent and everyday crisis is now the norm at University Hospital Limerick, where the full capacity protocols are in almost perpetual operation. Elderly patients, children and vulnerable people are treated on trolleys in dangerous conditions. It is treatment without privacy and without dignity. My colleague Deputy Quinlivan recently had to intervene for a 71-year-old stroke patient who was on a trolley for eight days at University Hospital Limerick. We can only imagine the distress of that patient and their poor family as they looked on feeling helpless.

The emergency department at University Hospital Limerick is the only emergency department servicing the population of 400,000 people in the region. The crisis in the hospital did not happen by accident. It is a direct result of decisions taken by successive governments. The closure of emergency departments at Nenagh and Ennis, the refusal to properly fund GP and community health services and the failure to develop the required capacity at the hospital have all heaped unsustainable pressure on heroic front-line staff who do incredible work in dire circumstances. There are significant staffing gaps in the hospital. There is an urgent need to fill non-consultant doctor posts and to immediately increase nursing and medical staff in the emergency department.

Tá an róphlódú contúirteach in Ospidéal na hOllscoile, Luimneach, imithe ar fad ó smacht. Ní mór don Rialtas gníomh éigeandála a dhéanamh láithreach. Without urgent action to build capacity at University Hospital Limerick, the situation will get even worse and that is not acceptable.

We are short 1,000 beds in hospitals across the State and yet despite appalling overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick and throughout our hospital network, the Government refuses to fund the 1,500 rapid-build beds that were promised on three separate occasions last year. Worse still, the Government has put in place a recruitment freeze, which only adds to the crisis. The people of Limerick and the mid-west deserve much better. What emergency action will the Taoiseach now take to deal with the worsening crisis at University Hospital Limerick? Will he now fund the promised 1,500 rapid-build beds and roll them into the system? Will he end the disastrous recruitment embargo?

First, I want to acknowledge that our hospitals all around the country are under a lot of pressure. That is correct. It is driven in part by rising population, increasing frailty, more older people and the availability of more treatments. I know that patients are experiencing conditions in some parts of the country that they should not have to experience. I know that many staff are working under enormous pressure at the moment. We offer them our thanks from this House.

As is almost always the case every Tuesday and Wednesday, however, I have to correct some misinformation the Deputy stated in her question. Increasingly, as is the case with some international politicians, media outlets need to tag on the term "without evidence" or "without proof" to most of what the Deputy says. Increasingly, she says things that are misinformation and that gets broadcast on the news, and it is never stated that it is misinformation. It is important that media outlets take account of that.

First of all, she said our waiting lists are at a record high. They are not. Waiting lists have fallen now for two full years in a row and this will be the third year in which waiting lists in Ireland fall. We have more beds. We have had more than 1,000 extra beds since this Government was formed, including acute day beds and also community beds. Far from there being a recruitment embargo, we have seen a big increase in recruitment. We have never had more people working in our public health service than is the case now. We had 8,000 more staff hired last year alone. The HSE can hire another 2,000 to 3,000 staff this year. We had confirmation today that almost 2,000 consultants have signed the new Sláintecare contract, which is approximately 44%, and there are more every day, which is encouraging. In fact, taking doctors alone, whereas we used to be below the OECD average in terms of doctors per head, we now have four doctors per 1,000 population. That is more than Australia, the US, France and many other countries. What the Deputy is saying often constitutes misinformation. It is important I say that so people know that, and it needs to be reported on as well in my view.

With regard to overcrowding in our hospitals, we have approximately 390 patients this morning waiting for a bed. That is a lot; it is too many. It is lower than we would typically see at this time of year compared to recent previous years. It is important to say that most of those patients will be in a bed by this evening. In some hospitals, there are no patients on trolleys at all, including Waterford and Tullamore, to give just two examples. As we all know, there is a particular challenge in Limerick. As I always say, what is required to eliminate hospital overcrowding are adequate resources and capacity, good clinical leadership and strong management. A comprehensive approach also has to be taken. It is not just about UHL, which I acknowledge. It is also about St. John's Hospital, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital and community services too. We are making significant investments in the hospital. The budget for the hospital increased by 45% in just the past four years. Some 150 extra beds have been opened across the group, 98 of which have been in UHL since 2020. Staff numbers have increased by more than 1,000 under this Government from 2,800 to 3,800. That includes 140 more doctors, 45 more consultants, 340 more nurses and midwives and 84 more health and social care professionals. We are currently building a new block, which will provide 98 additional beds next year, and we are working on a further additional block to be added after that.

The Taoiseach's position seems to be that there is actually no problem at University Hospital Limerick.

He has just recounted for me, in his view, a huge record of success and adequate investment. That seems to be his position. The reality on the ground, of course, is very different. I recounted for him the story of 71-year-old stroke patient who was on a trolley for eight days. The Taoiseach has heard before in the Chamber other stories of people left in the most atrocious and distressing of circumstances. The problem is very real. It is related to bed capacity, staffing levels and the embargo or staff control framework that is in action. If you talk to anybody who is a patient at the hospital, who has a loved one relying on services from that hospital or who works in the hospital, they will tell you that is the case. It is very clear that additional bed capacity is needed within the hospital network as a matter of urgency. I will put my question to the Taoiseach again. Some 1,500 rapid-build beds have been promised on three separate occasions. They have not been delivered. When will they be delivered and how will he face up to the crisis that is rolling out day in, day out, at University Hospital Limerick?

Hear, hear.

As is ever the case on a Tuesday and Wednesday, Deputy McDonald's questions contain examples of misinformation and then her follow-up contains misrepresentation. That needs to be called out and certainly needs to be-----

Will the Taoiseach answer the question?

-----analysed and reported on a little bit more. The problems that are occurring in the emergency department in University Hospital Limerick are very real. Everyone who has visited there knows that. I have been in the old and new emergency departments and have visited the hospital many times, as has every TD and Senator from the region. The Deputy knows that too. It is about capacity, clinical leadership, management and taking a comprehensive approach-----

Do something about it then.

-----that says it is about more than the hospital itself, as it involves the other hospitals in the region and community services too. What have we done about it? Since this Government was formed, there are 1,000 more staff in UHL, there has been a 45% increase in budget and there are an additional 98 beds. We are currently constructing a new ward block of 96 beds which will be complete by quarter 1 of next year, and we are planning for a further 96 beds-----

I thought the number was only 50.

-----with planning having been granted only at the end of last year. There are also developments in other hospitals, such as the minor injury unit in Ennis. There are developments in Nenagh as well. The building of a private hospital, the Bon Secours hospital, will be of some use as well.