Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said that Budget 2022 must target the health system to tackle waiting lists and overcrowding. Teachta Crowe’s comments come as figures released to Sinn Féin show that Tallaght University Hospital currently has 15 vacant consultant posts.

Tallaght University Hospital has 155 such posts in total, meaning 10% are left vacant. There are a further 2 vacancies in CHI at Tallaght out of only 7 places, a far higher proportion again.

Teachta Crowe said:

“The health service is struggling to keep pace with demand from planned and emergency patient care. There are 15 vacant consultant’s positions in Tallaght University Hospital out of 155 such posts, a shortfall of 10%. A further nine posts are only temporarily filled, leaving serious doubt as to whether there will still be a consultant there at all even in the near future.

“There are more than 900,000 people on waiting lists in this State. That means almost 1 in 5 people are on a waiting list of some form for healthcare. Without the necessary number of consultants, these lists are only going to get longer.

“It is unacceptable that sick people who require urgent care are left in limbo for years waiting to see a hospital consultant. Without urgently hiring consultants to fill posts, these problems are only going to get worse.

“We see at the Children’s Health Ireland unit in Tallaght that there are 2 out of 7 positions left vacant also. Early intervention in children’s medicine is vital. If problems are allowed to linger, they can grow far worse or even become untreatable.

“The Government must use Budget 2022 to drive money into targeted areas of the health service to seriously tackle waiting lists and overcrowding. They will say that it’s the biggest budget ever for health, just like they do every year. That is irrelevant because the population grows every year. I want to hear where the money is going and what difference it will make.”