‘It’s very much on the website’ – Mary Lou McDonald hits back at Taoiseach’s claim Sinn Féin budget health policy ‘vanished like Shergar’

But the Taoiseach fired back in the Dáil, stating that the main opposition party's alternative budget for heath spending in 2024 has "vanished like Shergar" from the Sinn Féin website.

He claimed this was because it was €500m less than the Government commitment.

However, Sinn Féin later said the alternative budget remained on the party website.

“Our health policy is very much on the website,” said party leader Mary Lou McDonald, accusing the Taoiseach of engaging in a “distraction”.

Ms McDonald had previously challenged Mr Harris, a former Minister for Health, on his promise to reduce wait times for scoliosis patients to four months.

Today, she took aim at the 250,000 cancellations for appointments and scheduled treatments last year, saying it was a new record.

The Taoiseach alluded to the kidnap of the famous racehorse when he said SInn Féin's alternative budget for health last year had "vanished like Shergar”.

The health service has the money to hire 2,200 additional hospital staff, he said, with another 800 in the community and disability sector.

However, Mr Harris did concede that more beds are needed in the health service.

He outlined how 1,100 beds had been added since the last general election, adding that there is now funding for another 1,500.

He also pointed to significant improvements in cancer survival rates across all cancers and all ages.

Survival rates had improved by 14pc for men and 13pc for women, he said, which is better than the European average of 10pc.

"To any parent of a sick child, and particularly one with cancer, I want them to know that," the Taoiseach said.

But Ms McDonald said chronic overcrowding "means constant chaos" in emergency departments.

She made reference to the hundreds of patients who suffer the indignity of lying on trolleys at any one time.

"More than 600 people were on trolleys in our hospitals yesterday,” she said. “It's 528 today.

"A very real consequences of overcrowding is the soaring level of hospital appointment cancellations."

Among these were 800 chemotherapy appointments for children, she said.

She added: "A cancer diagnosis for a child must be utterly devastating for a family and the instinct of any parent in that situation is to go to the ends of the earth to care for them.

"So just imagine the cancellation of a child's chemotherapy appointment – one that you know is a big part of your child's fate.

"Government has to stop this happening. It must look to stop the problem of cancellations caused by chronic overcrowding created by your policy."