Budget and priorities

Sir, – Last Wednesday a relative was taken by ambulance to Tallaght hospital A&E unwell and in a distressed condition.

A total of 33 hours later a bed became free and he was admitted. He spent almost half that period lying on a trolley in the hallway of the busy A&E department while the clearly overworked staff did their best to attend to patients.

I’d be surprised if this intolerable situation was not replicated in other underfunded and understaffed hospitals across the country.

At the same as this deplorable state of affairs continues, the Government is hinting at tax cuts in the upcoming budget, a vote-grabbing stroke if ever there was one.

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The leopard clearly hasn’t changed its spots, despite protestations from the political class that auction politics is a thing of the past. – Yours, etc,

FRANK KHAN,

Lansdowne Park,

Templeogue, Dublin 16.