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Dáil
‹ An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

UHL and Aoife Johnston

Summary

Donna McGettigan raised persistent trolley pressure at University Hospital Limerick and asked about memorialising Aoife Johnston in the new bed block. The Taoiseach said he had met the family, acknowledged the tragedy, and would speak to the Minister about the naming issue.

Trolley figures at University Hospital Limerick, UHL, to this point of the year in 2025 were 9,446. To date in 2026, the figure is 9,341, including today's figures. The figures are down 1% on last year, and with the new bed block having little impact. We and the Taoiseach know that more must be done in the mid-west, and in Clare, in particular.

Talking of the new block, I will bring up the Johnston family. As the Taoiseach knows, Aoife Johnston lost her life in UHL after waiting for 13 hours for sepsis treatment. There was a proposal that the new 96-bed block at UHL would be memorialised in Aoife's memory. Letters were exchanged with Aoife's family and the family had selected photos and poems to be incorporated in the memorial. There was then radio silence. Much to the hurt and distress of the family, the new block was then opened without consultation with the family. This was even more distressing for Aoife's dad, James, who was in the final months of his life. The family has been disrespected in every way, and they want to know when or if there will be a statutory inquiry into Aoife's death, as requested by the family. Unfortunately, that will come too late for Aoife's dad.

Comment on this

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I met the Johnston family. What happened to Aoife was extremely and profoundly difficult and traumatic for the family. It should not have happened and the HSE has apologised. The Minister has met the family. There was an investigation and examination of it, which yielded a lot in terms of what went wrong. I will speak to the Minister. I did not realise there were issues around the naming of that new block. I will talk to the Minister about that to see if we can get that rectified.

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