Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is welcome that there is protected operating theatre space. Are there also protected beds? In other hospitals, ward beds which are needed for post-op elective care are getting filled up due to an influx of patients into emergency departments and the increase in admissions. Many surgeries, including in children's hospitals, are being cancelled because there is no ward bed available for after the operation rather than because there is no operating theatre available. Are some of the beds protected and physically separated along the lines of the operating theatres?