Mr. Tadhg Daly:

That is a question for someone else. The point we have been continuously making is that given the vulnerability of the age profile and the complexity of care of older persons, there should have been a national plan. From where I sit, what I have seen is an overt focus on the acute hospital sector to the exclusion of community care in general. Clearly, the discharge of large numbers of patients from the acute hospitals was an attempt to ensure the hospitals were ready. We heard that a good deal in terms of ensuring the hospitals were prepared. In fact, the surge that was predicted or expected in the hospitals materialised in the nursing home sector.