Sinn Féin TD for Tipperary Martin Browne is calling out the Government’s failure to fund the delivery of hospital beds that are needed according to a recent ESRI analysis of bed capacity.
Deputy Browne is also expressing concern about the impact for local patients.
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly confirmed in the Dáil that sites were identified for the beds, and expressions of interest were sought for their development, but that no funding was allocated by the Government to deliver the beds.
Deputy Browne says that addressing the shortage of beds is essential to tackling overcrowding and reducing waiting lists.
According to the analysis there is a 1,000-bed deficit in hospitals at present across the state, and a need for at least 500 additional beds by the end of next year to keep pace with growing demand and to make space for tackling waiting lists.
However, as the Minister confirmed no funding was allocated in Budget 2024 to fund the 1500 beds that were identified as necessary by the ESRI. 1200 new beds were announced in 2020 and these have yet to be fully delivered.
