Dublin South West representative Seán Crowe TD and a member of the Tallaght Hospital Action Group  has challenged Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s claim in the Dáil that Tallaght Hospital staff were responsible for an elderly ending up on a trolley, describing his remarks as ‘outrageous’

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Taoiseach Enda Kenny has lost the run of himself and has the brass neck to blame Tallaght Hospital staff on a crisis in Accident & Emergency and awful scenario where an elderly patient was left on a trolley for 29 hours.

“To suggest that staff in hospital are somehow responsible is outrageous and ignores his government role in cutting services to the bone since they came into office. Taoiseach Enda Kenny conveniently ignores his own governments  cuts to health funding, the removal of thousands beds from the hospital system, the shortage of key staff, the lack of step down facilities, the failure to roll out primary care facilities and the  lengthening waiting list for life changing operations.

“Taoiseach Enda  Kenny is clearly out of touch with reality and the stresses facing most Irish citizens.

“It’s easier to blame hard working hospital staff or  seriously ill patients for getting sick,  rather than blaming  his own  Minister for Health or his Cabinet.

“The Chief Executive Officer in Tallaght Hospital publicly warned back in 2013 that patient safety would be put at risk by budget cuts.

“Taoiseach Enda Kenny needs to retract his scurrilous statement against Tallaght Hospital staff and their reputation. His latest rantings undermine his office and try to trivialise the challenges facing hospital staff on a daily basis.”

ENDS