Mr. Bernard Gloster:

The intention is not to end up with fewer beds. On the margins we could lose two or three beds in places, or we could gain. The difficulty with that programme is that it was announced by the then outgoing Government in February 2016. We are experiencing some challenges as we progress through the programme now because of increasing costs in construction since that announcement. This will have to wash through, but we are in very close negotiations and discussions on this with the Department.

Reference was made to closures of some beds, and while I do not know specifically about the Belmullet facility I am aware that in my own facilities in the mid-west two things happened that essentially saw some reduction in the numbers of beds in public units. The first issue was that up to 2011 we were continuing to count the very old historical number of beds. Even though the beds were physically there they had not been used for quite some time. We recalibrated the system to give a more accurate count of open beds from 2011 on. Where units lost beds it was because the site itself was being refurbished. The regulations and regulatory requirements from HIQA is very high in the built environment and the amended regulations to allow us to continue up to 2021 only came about in 2016. Before 2016, therefore, there were some regulatory pressures that led to some bed closures. When our maintenance people go in to rebuild wards some capacity could be lost in the existing sites.

The other reason that bed closures could be experienced in community nursing units is not dissimilar to bed closures in acute hospitals, which is the workforce issue. In different parts of the State we are very challenged in terms of recruiting the workforce we need for those facilities.