Mr. Jim Breslin:

Absolutely. The full extent of the knowledge, not just in Government but across the whole community, in respect of the infrastructure deficits within healthcare generally but particularly within our public nursing home sector was known at that time. The question that was facing Government was whether these facilities would be closed or maintained over a period as a programme was put in place to refurbish or replace them. Through regulation, HIQA was allowed to register them with conditions. The conditions require workaround solutions and that the best be made of the infrastructure. These are valued institutions in many localities and they deliver good care. The decision at the time was to sustain them and allow that programme of infrastructure development to be put in place.