Ms Laura Magahy:

I agree the target of 2,600 beds is almost like a best case scenario. After all the improvements required are taken into consideration, only 2,600 beds are needed, which is still a very large number. However, the timeframe is until 2031 so we have a bit of road to travel, although we know it takes a long time to plan and build infrastructure. We were talking earlier about the suboptimal use of some current beds. The first and most immediate target is to try to get the beds in place. The second target is to try to get the elective hospitals streamlining the scheduled and unscheduled care. Mr. Sullivan and I are working assiduously on naming and getting that capacity in place. The next target is the needs of the regions. That is how we are going about allocating those beds. A hospital improvement programme is also needed in order to maximise the stock we already have.