Sinn Féin TD for Cork South-Central Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD has said that Fine Gael are clearly “out of depth” when it comes to handling the trolley crisis as figures show Cork University Hospital is the worst affected hospital in the State with 57 patients waiting on hospital trolleys.

Speaking today, Teachta Ó Laoghaire said;

“2019 has been a year of failure for Fine Gael when it comes to the running of our health service.

“This year has seen the record broken for the worst of hospital overcrowding and patients on trolleys.

“Since the beginning of the year until November, 108,364 people have gone without a bed in an Irish hospital, breaking the 2018 record high, with weeks still left to go in the year.

“Fine Gael have had eight years to address this crisis, but it has only continued to get worse each year they have been in government.

“Alongside their supporters in Fianna Fáil, the Government have failed to recognise that their policies are failing, and that failure is having a devastating impact on the lives of patients and staff.

“The scenes that we are witnessing in our hospitals and right across our health service are the direct consequences of their political actions.

“To tackle the trolley crisis, you have to address the issues at the heart of it and focus on addressing them through:

– increasing recruitment and retention of staff

– reopening closed beds

– delivering more step-down facilities

– increasing home help hours

– proper investment in primary and community care.”

“What sets Sinn Féin apart from the mainstream political parties eroding our health service is we have the solutions and political will to ensure ordinary people are treated with the care and dignity they deserve.”