Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If the Deputy thinks I am on the road to Damascus, some Members in the Oireachtas are still googling it to find out where it is before they even get on the road. I very clearly nailed my colours to the mast long before any de Buitléir report that I do not believe such a position was appropriate. Deputy O'Reilly would never do it but she could never cast any doubt over my position or the position of the Government on this matter. I want to see public practice in public hospitals. Quite frankly, what consultants do outside those hours in private hospitals is a different discussion but I want to see public beds used in public hospitals for public patients. That is how capacity can be increased and while it might make both me and the Deputy somewhat uncomfortable, it is something on which we genuinely agree. It is in the Sláintecare report. It indicated this should be mapped and we should work out how to do it rather than just jumping right in. That is what I have done with the de Buitléir report.

If the contracts and practice change, the use of any facilities will change as a result and it will be no different for the national children's hospital either. Mr. Reid can comment on the staffing issue with respect to primary care. It is important and we are increasing staff right across the health service. We are continuing to increase staff in primary care and we have just referenced 100 more therapy posts as well. They will work in primary care and some will work in primary care centres. We are increasing those numbers and I will ask the HSE to come back with specifics.

The Deputy asked an important question about diagnostics. If we can put more diagnostic equipment into primary care centres, we would decrease the number of people going to hospital and would be providing more services locally and at greater convenience to the patient, which makes sense. I am not talking about any specific primary care centre but we know there cannot be diagnostics in every primary care centre. There are different types of primary care centres, with some being larger or built for diagnostics while others are not. While some serve large enough catchment areas, there are clinical issues with respect to safety and the number of patients that are seen. Oversight must also be taken into account. I visited Castlebar primary care centre, which has an excellent radiology facility but the clinical governance is done by Mayo General Hospital. There is an exercise going on as part of Sláintecare to map where we should have our diagnostics within the community. There is no doubt that will require funding. The Deputy asked about the capital plan and it will show how we intend to advance that. I expect the capital plan to be published by the end of June.