Before I speak to this Topical Issue, I wish to commend Deputy Ó Muirí on raising a really important issue in the House. I fully agree with his sentiments, having been a youth worker for so long. I will be the first to stand here and critique, but on this issue I can attest to the improvements the previous couple of Governments have made in this regard. I know the app the Minister of State mentioned has a very place in her heart in terms of the impact it might have. I wish her continued success with the roll-out of that mental health app. When you live in Kildare you begin to plan for certain things at a very early stage. You try to get a crèche place for your child before they are born because they are often full. People try to enrol their children in local schools before they are born because the chances are they are full. People who are lucky enough to have a GP place need to give two weeks' notice to let the practice know they are going to be sick because capacity is a real issue. When it comes to Naas General Hospital, people pray to whoever it is that they pray to that they or their family will not have to darken the door of the hospital over the coming weeks and months. That is not because of the level of care provided, but the issue of capacity. The toll it takes on people's health outcomes is monumental. I hope it goes without saying that a critique of the hospital is no reflection on the majority of staff who conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism and dedication to their occupation as is humanly possible. Inpatients have told me how thankful they are for the care and medical expertise they experience from a beautifully diverse and wonderfully talented staff team in Naas General Hospital, but to get to that point people must often traverse an excessive wait in the emergency department. Some 255 people were cared for on trolleys in November this year and why I raise this with the Minister of State-----

Sentiment score: 0.33

There were 255. I raise this issue because it appears that this has become an acceptable norm in Naas General Hospital. Year after year, the same number of patients receiving care on trolleys. The numbers may fall or rise slightly, but it has become something of a predictable crisis. In the same way that young families have to plan early for basics like crèche and school places in Kildare, I ask the Minister of State, the HSE and hospital management team in Naas to plan better for this predictable crisis. Kildare has a population of 250,000 people. The county has experienced exponential growth in 30 years, more than doubling from the 1990s. In truth, we have been failed by successive Governments who rightly want housing delivered, but have utterly failed in their duty to deliver the necessary social infrastructure required in tandem with housing. This week the CEO of the HSE spoke on radio about emergency departments being about life threatening situations. I understand the point he was trying to make, but he also said if he was given 220 people being cared for on trolleys every day when he started in the role he would nearly have taken that. We cannot allow that to become the norm and that is what worries me. The 250 people in November 2025 in Naas were deemed suitable for care and admission and needed the level of care that only the hospital could provide, as did the 350 people in November 2024 and the 260 in November 2023. We do not have other options in Kildare. The out-of-hours services are not there to meet the capacity constraints in our county. I call on the Minister of State to raise this issue with the Minister for Health and ask for a meeting to be convened between the HSE, management and representatives in Kildare North and Kildare South to talk about the issues of fundamental importance when it comes to reducing the number from the mid 200s as much as we can over the next number of years.

Sentiment score: 0.03

I thank the Minister of State for her considered response. It is really useful. I hope she can see I am not trying to play politics with this.

Sentiment score: 0.36

It is an issue that has maintained over years and will continue, notwithstanding the matters of merit in the Minister of State's response in terms of capital works and an increased budget. The budgets are increasing in tandem with the population increase. I do not think that will address this meaningfully. I spoke with someone today who works in Naas General Hospital and their words are more important than mine. I will quote that person: The nursing staff are voting today via the INMO for work-to-rule. The management is adding services to an already understaffed hospital. No one is listening to the nurses on the ground, despite union meetings. Management wants to change hours without approval of the staff. There are 30 nursing vacancies at multiple levels that are unfilled and unadvertised. There is not enough staff to cover sick leave. They are using agency staff to run theatre lists and endoscopy lists are being filled without following [joint advisory group] JAG protocols. These are not my points. What matters at this point are the voices of those working on the ground. This has become an entirely predictable crisis. Irrespective of concerns over how the national treatment purchase fund, NTPF, is being used, the powerful words from someone working in the hospital are what we all need to hear. The majority of staff in Naas General Hospital will continue to work tirelessly, but they will work tirelessly in conditions that are simply unacceptable. I again thank the Minister of State for her time. I ask her to convey the importance of this to the Minister, and to consider convening a meeting of the stakeholders I mentioned to include the union representatives to make sure we hear the voices of staff, patients, ourselves and management so that we are not here this time next year talking about a predictable crisis.

Sentiment score: -0.03