Ms Anne O'Connor:

The planning for winter started at the end of last winter. We looked at a couple of key issues. In terms of capacity and improvement, in the first half of this year we were focused on developing a three-year plan which would look at improving capacity. As Deputy Murphy O'Mahony stated, we should not be surprised by winter because we know it is coming every year. We have to look at how we can develop our capacity in line with that and improve our services. We have an improvement initiative, the Five Fundamentals, that has been peer reviewed and piloted in the south. That work has been taking place all year and it led us into September.

Another important learning point for us this year was the papal visit. We examined that in terms of what worked in terms of our response. That has led us into a slightly different approach this year. We are working with colleagues around the country who have emergency management experience on national and local co-ordination teams and we are looking at how we can maximise what we have available to us. As I stated, we have not published the report. We are in discussions with the Department. Those discussions have pretty much concluded in terms of our approach and agreement around how we are doing this. However, that has not prevented us from starting the work. We have been engaging with services since September. We have integrated plans from all areas and we have agreed a plan. We are now finalising the areas for investment but many detailed discussions have been going on with services all around the country.

Our challenge and focus has been on ensuring an integrated pathway for people throughout winter that begins in primary care and tries to keep as many people away from emergency departments as possible. That is not to say that we will not be challenged because the numbers are high and will be higher. We have to look at maximising all of the supports available. A great deal of work has been going on since September on that.