Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 February 2026
1047. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether he has issued, or intends to issue, any direction to the Health Service Executive to begin recording and publishing maximum trolley wait times by hospital for emergency department patients; if not, the reason for this decision; and whether he will commit to implementing such reporting as part of national urgent and emergency care oversight. [9480/26]
View answerThe Minister would like to thank the deputy for his question and assure him that the HSE and the Department of Health have targets set to maximise the efficient use of all resources available to the HSE.
The HSE uses the 8 am daily trolley count (TrolleyGAR) as its primary public metric, which provides a point-in-time snapshot of patients awaiting an inpatient bed after a decision to admit has been made.
The HSE Urgent and Emergency Care Plan Operational Plan 2025-2026 (UEC Plan) presents a comprehensive framework designed to promote collaboration and integration across the healthcare system. Central to this plan are the national priorities and actions, which are divided into two categories:
National Priorities• : Universal actions and priorities, focused on achieving operational excellence, optimising resources, and reducing delayed transfers of care (DTOC) nationally.
Operational Actions: • Specific and detailed actions designed to support and enable regions in meeting UEC KPI targets.
The delivery of UEC Plan is being measured against the following four KPIs:
Trolleys• : The Average Monthly Trolley Count at 8am 280.
DTOC• : Total number of Delayed Transfers of Care (DTOC) 300.
24hr PET• ( 75 Years) < 24hrs; 99%.
24hr PET • (All Attendees) <24hrs; 97%.
Progress is being made in reducing the numbers of patients waiting more than 24hrs. In 2025 there was a 16% decrease in number of 24hr breaches for all patients and also for patients over 75s compared to 2024.
Progress on UEC activity and performance is reported as follows:
• Daily UEC situational analysis reports to the UEC Oversight Group and the DoH, covering acute ED demand, and general acute and critical care bed demand and availability;
• Weekly PMO and monthly UEC reports providing updates on UEC Plan actions and comparisons of current activity and performance to previous weeks and years at both national and site levels;
• The Monthly National Performance Report (NPR) and Regional Performance Reports (RPRs) providing updates on regional performance, including performance against regional UEC targets to the SLT, CEO, Board and Health Minister;
• Quarterly Red, Amber, Green (RAG) reports submitted by the Health Regions to the National HSE UEC Oversight Group, providing status updates on the implementation of national priorities and 2025 operational actions.
The Government is investing in the Demand and Capacity Visualisation Platform (HPVP), which provides senior management with real-time data on activity, bed-flow blockages, and waiting lists across the hospital network to support operational grip.
Furthermore, the HSE is establishing centralised operational hubs to provide a shared view of real-time capacity to support decisions regarding patient flow and active surge management.
