The Sinn Féin leader has accused the Government of failing to prepare the health service for a long, difficult winter.
During leaders’ questions in the Dáil on Tuesday, Mary Lou McDonald told Taoiseach Micheál Martin that Ireland is facing “the most serious health emergency of a lifetime”.
“The need to build capacity in our hospitals has never been more urgent,” she told Mr Martin.
On Monday, the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive published the Government’s Winter Plan, which set out the steps being taken to protect and sustain the health service through the coming months.
It promises €77 million to support the health service in the coming months, as well as an extra 143 beds by the end of the year.
The Sinn Féin leader attacked the Government for waiting until the middle of November to publish the plan.
“Your Winter Plan doesn’t go far enough. It is built on the failures of the recent Budget,” she said.
She said that there remains a lack of beds and a lack of staff in the health service.
If you test positive for COVID-19 you will get a text message. This will include a link to a website where you can upload contact details for your close contacts. If you do not use the website, a contact tracer will phone you to collect the details. pic.twitter.com/qmMj1LVKkA
— HSE Ireland (@HSELive) November 15, 2021
“This should have been a plan for real progress and real ambition. Instead, it is a plan for our creaking hospitals to stand still.”
She said that too much bureaucracy remains in the health system, which she called “Orwellian in proportions”.
The health system is under growing pressure, as the country copes with a surge in Covid-19 cases.
On Tuesday the Cabinet agreed that pubs, nightclubs and restaurants will close at midnight from Thursday.
Government ministers also agreed to urge people who can work from home to do so from Friday, to help decrease socialising.
The Minister for Health @DonnellyStephen today published the HSE’s Winter Plan for 2021/22.
It can be downloaded here - https://t.co/xDODaqa9Qm— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) November 15, 2021
Covid passes will be required on a statutory basis for cinemas and theatres.
Mr Martin repeatedly defended Government efforts, which he said had led to the largest increase in acute hospital beds in the history of the HSE.
He said that 11,000 full-time equivalent staff had been recruited in the last two years by the HSE.
He acknowledged that the approval of capital funding should be “accelerated” and that the Government remains open to requests for extra funding.
“I am not resting on that. I want to do more. We’re there to respond as quickly as we possibly can.
The Irish Medical Organisation has warned that hospitals and GPs are facing a traumatic Winter and that the Winter Plan launched today is “inadequate” to meet the challenges we face.
Full Statement: https://t.co/GpHtmn9DJu— Irish Medical Organisation (@IMO_IRL) November 15, 2021
“There is too much analysis, which leads to a degree of paralysis before it even gets to the department and that is what we want to cut through.”
The Winter Plan was criticised by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) on Monday.
Dr Ina Kelly, president of the IMO, said: “The Winter Plan is like using a sticking plaster to cover a gaping wound.
“Our health services remain crippled by a lack of bed capacity on the one hand and a lack of doctors and other healthcare professionals on the other.
“Until we fix these two problems, we will forever be trying to prevent a crisis becoming a catastrophe.”
