Ms Anne O'Connor:

We would obviously like to keep moving upwards. We are part of an environment and part of a wider health system. With regard to the Tallaght unit, I cannot comment on the actual closure but I would like to clarify for Senator Devine that we do not penalise in such circumstances. The reality is that bed closures as a result of staffing shortages do not arise because there is no funding.

A reference was made earlier to Linn Dara. The straw that broke the camel's back in that case, for example, was that even the very specialised agency that sometime supplies us with staff was unable to find any. We could not get staff; the agency we normally go to for staff could not get staff; and therefore the unit had to close for an interim period. None of us want people to be nursed in inappropriate settings that do not best meet their needs. That is not in anybody's interests so we always strive to have the right facilities open for people, particularly those with a higher level of need. There are times, however, when we just have serious staffing crises around manning a roster on a given day.