Sparks fly in Dáil as Mary Lou McDonald raises hospital cancellations with Taoiseach

Simon Harris holds copy of Sinn Faein’s alternative health budget up in the Daail.

THINGS GOT HEATED in the Dáil today as Mary Lou McDonald and Simon Harris faced off over hospital waiting lists, with both sides accusing each other of misleading the public.

During Leaders’ Questions, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald raised the issue of hospital cancellations and said 250,000 appointments were cancelled last year – a new record.

According to data released from the HSE to Sinn Féin, hospital cancellations increased by 58,000 last year.

Among these, according to Children’s Health Ireland were 865 cancelled chemotherapy sessions for children last year – up from 408 cancellations in 2022.

McDonald told the Taoiseach: “Just imagine the cancellation of a child’s chemotherapy appointment, the cancellation of an appointment that you know is a big part of your child’s fight. Government has to stop this happening.”

She called on the Government to increase bed capacity in hospitals and said 3,000 additional beds were needed.

She also called on the Government to end the recruitment embargo in the HSE.

In response, the Taoiseach accused Sinn Féin of presenting the cancellation figures in a disingenuous manner and noted that the HSE said the figures should not be compared on an annual basis as the 2022 figures are not comparable with the 2023 figures.

He went on to say that the Government has invested more in children’s healthcare than Sinn Féin committed to in its alternative budget.

He said: “I’d like to know yesterday, after I raised the issue of Sinn Féin’s alternative budget for health why it disappeared and vanished like Shergar from your website?”

“Why did you take it down yesterday?,” the Taoiseach asked as he made reference to the infamous kidnapped racehorse.

“I have a copy of it here,” the Taoiseach said as he held a document in the air as he was heckled by the Sinn Féin benches.

A Google search shows the document still remains on the Sinn Féin website.

Taking to Twitter, Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane accused the Taoiseach of misleading the public.

“For the second day running the Taoiseach is wrong again. Nothing to say about 250,000 hospital cancellations. Nothing to say about the recruitment embargo. Instead he misleads about Sinn Féin Health plan being removed from our website. Not true. Read it for yourself,” Cullinane wrote.