Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will follow up on that. The Deputy is right and again she knows the answer to this question. The 60-bed modular unit is not going to be open for this winter. I am not putting it forward as a solution to this winter. I am just putting it forward as a commitment to increasing capacity in the mid-west. What we are going to do this winter is a perfectly reasonable question. Two things have emerged from our conversations today. I gave a commitment that the HSE would meet mid-west Oireachtas Members within a fortnight. One is whether we can improve diagnostic access in the hospital. There seems to be an acute issue in terms of accessing MRI facilities, which hospital management and representatives think could, if resolved, really help patient flow. The second thing is in the whole area of social care and delayed transfers of care. Can we, through the budget next Tuesday, provide additional funding for more home care and more transitional care in the winter period?

The emergency department task force is due to meet next Thursday. I think that is a sensible time to meet because by next Thursday I will have clarity in respect of winter funding. The task force can usefully meet on that occasion. Obviously, when the emergency department task force is not meeting, it does not mean I am not meeting very regularly with the HSE and the Department and remaining in touch with other stakeholders daily and sometimes several times a day. The meeting next Thursday will be after the budget on Tuesday and I think we will be able to have substantive conversations.