Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The actions the Department took were appropriate and fit for purpose if the worst that could ever happen did happen and that it was prudent and right that it did that. I want to make it exceptionally clear that I laud and support fully all the actions taken by the HSE and the Department of Health. That was acknowledged by everybody. The issue that arose here this morning was the spare capacity when that day did not come, thank God, due to the actions of the public, the health workers and all of us. When that did not happen, there was spare capacity in the public and private hospitals. As I understand it, on 27 March, NPHET made a recommendation that all non-urgent scheduled care be postponed both for safety reasons and to avoid the spread of Covid-19. In fact, a significant portion of the bed capacity that could otherwise have been used could not be used because of that directive. Is it fair to say that whatever issues are building up now in terms of backlogs, which are significant, are as a result of a medical opinion that the Department could not put patients into those beds? It was not the appropriate or proper thing to do.