Mr. Liam Woods:

The region has a population of approximately 381,000. It is recognised, and was pre-Covid, that the bed capacity in Limerick is not sufficient to the demand.

The additional beds, including the 60-bed block, are intended to partly address that. Hospital capacity on its own will not be successful at that. We need significant additional investment - which is a part of what our winter planning process is about - in community services, general practitioner and GP support services.