Mr. Liam Woods:

I am seeking to answer the question that was asked. We do not know the volume. A point was made about intensive care unit, ICU, capacity in the public system which is a critical capacity deficit for us. We invested a little in Cork in the last year. We are doing a little more this year in the Mater hospital. Our national lead for that area, Dr. Michael Power, has indicated clearly and strongly that we should invest. The contention that this can be a restriction on surgical activity within the acute system generally is entirely correct. It is a critical area for us, as it is in the event of any mass casualty incident or any such thing. That is an area for which we will continue to pursue investment. To be helpful, the Health Insurance Authority publishes information on total numbers of patients treated and the total amounts of money paid by the insured population for their insurance, which is approximately €2.5 billion. The acute system, publicly, costs approximately €5.3 billion. I do not know more about the activity than that. I agree about the point on the ICU capacity. There were a couple of questions specific to Limerick. One was about Croom Hospital. I will ask Ms Cowan to address it but I think Croom Hospital is operating with a ratio of 36% private patients, not 53%, but Ms Cowan might like to address the specific questions about time management in contracts.