Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

To conclude on this session I have a few quick questions to add. On the question of private patient income, what is the situation in respect of bed designation within each of the hospital groups now? Are there designated private beds or do the groups work to a percentage?

In terms of people presenting at emergency departments, do the witnesses have an analysis of why people are presenting there in terms of the main diseases or illness categories? I note the point made that only two of the hospital groups, UL and Saolta, have actual boards in place at this stage. Why does the RCSI group not have a board? I will be asking the other groups the same question when they come to the meeting. Is the situation greatly complicated by the fact that there are voluntary hospitals in some of the other groups which are not HSE hospitals?

I would very much appreciate it if that group of questions could be addressed. We might start with UL.