Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has vowed to increase the number of staff on duty in the evenings and on the weekends. 

The new Minister made the announcement after officials revealed that there were fewer people on trolleys this bank holiday than there were on St Brigid’s Day. 

This, she told Newstalk Breakfast, is not a coincidence. 

“We have very good assets in terms of the infrastructure assets in terms of the hospitals that we have now and the staff that we have now,” she said. 

“We have been underusing it; I want to see outpatient appointments at 4PM on a Saturday, at 8PM on a Tuesday night and to see a different rostering practice. 

“We put that into place, myself and Bernard Gloster [of the HSE], in a very dedicated way. 

“A few weeks ago, I was looking at the proposed rosters for the St Patrick’s Day weekend and I said very clearly that I was not happy. 

“I said it privately, I said it publicly, it wasn’t good enough.” 

You can listen back to the full interview here:

Main image: Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. Picture by: Alamy.com