Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Murphy O'Mahony. Before I go to Deputy Durkan, I have a number of questions, the first of which is directed to Mr. Breslin and Mr. Connaghan.

Invariably, the HSE service plan, which will be produced in the next several weeks, will not deliver because of budget overruns of up to €700 million like this year. What guarantee can be given that the service plan will come in on target next year? Several weeks ago, Mr. Stephen Mulvany explained to the committee the various components of the overrun, such as demographics, unforeseen events, etc. Surely these events are factored into the service plan.

I understand the planning for the winter initiative is well under way. Surely, the plan should be well advanced by, if not delivered prior to, 1 December. I take it the HSE anticipates the winter coming and the plan should be developed long before the period it will cover. Why has it taken so long this year to develop the winter initiative, as opposed to other years?

Mr. John Connaghan said the trolley numbers have been decreasing from the first quarter of this year compared to those for last year. That is not the case with the figures I have been calculating. The trolley count has gone up month on month, year on year. There is no reduction in the number of people on trolleys month on month since the beginning of this year. Is the HSE using different figures to those produced by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, in its trolley watch?

The number of people waiting for inpatient treatment has fallen from 86,000 to 72,000. How many of those have been actual treatments as opposed to validating people who no longer require treatment?

We have discussed Sláintecare time out of number here. There seems to be a significant lack of urgency with the implementation of Sláintecare. One aspect specifically is the 2,600 beds which are to come on stream over the next ten years through the national development plan. Those beds are also identified in Sláintecare. It will be 2021 before there is any move in building new beds. There are 240 beds, plus 79 more, coming on stream in the next number of months. These will be so far down the line that it seems inconceivable that our demographics will be able to be accommodated within the current bed structure.