I raise the issue of University Hospital Limerick with the Taoiseach. He was the health Minister for four years. One hundred and five people are on trolleys in the hospital today, 7,308 people have been on trolleys there already this year, and we will exceed the record number reached last year, namely 21,409. When we talk about the number of people on trolleys, we sometimes forget they are people we know. They are neighbours and friends and, in many cases, family members. What is the Taoiseach going to do? Is sorting out University Hospital Limerick going to be a priority for him, or will we have a worse year this year? From the Taoiseach’s four years as Minister for Health, he does not leave me with much confidence that he will prioritise this issue and treat it urgently. What is occurring is not fair. In the past three days, there have been 106 people on trolleys, on average. This is simply not good enough.

I thank Deputy Quinlivan for raising the issue. Let me try to prove him wrong. I am determined to work with him and others in the Limerick region to make progress once and for all on University Hospital Limerick. I accept that more needs to be done by way of investment but it is very concerning that, despite the investment the hospital has received relative to other hospitals in recent times, it has failed to improve its performance. I take what the Deputy says about statistics. He is right that there are people behind them. Let me give the Deputy just one statistic: there has been a 42% increase in staff in the hospital. The increases are not small. In fact, they are very much larger than in other hospitals, as they should be because we are playing catch-up in the mid-west, but the lack of operational grip at the hospital is concerning.

The Minister and the Deputy probably met as he was in Limerick recently. I understand there is a new regional executive officer. Sandra Broderick has been appointed and I look forward to having an early meeting with her. I will keep in touch with the Deputy.