Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank both sets of witnesses for attending. I will address my first question to Ms Clyne. She mentioned preparations for future surges in her submission. All of us are more nervous about future surges now than we were two weeks ago but I have two questions on the expansion of acute bed capacity. First, on the immediate expansion of physical capacity through investment in temporary builds, would that mean new hospitals built in a temporary fashion or the extension of existing hospitals? What does she envisage in that regard? People generally get a little queasy when they hear that something is temporary. I am thinking of our school system and so on.

Second, is there any role for the use of private hospitals in providing that bed capacity? I note in the ICS submission that one of the aspects of the health response that supported cancer care was the use of private hospitals for cancer care, which the society said worked well and offered continuity of care for some existing public patients, although it may have proved somewhat disruptive to normal schedules. Is there any role for the use of private hospitals in the IMO's suite of recommendations?