Mr. John King:

I have not had sight of that capacity. I am not sure about the level of engagement, even in terms of the contribution made by Ms Ní Sheaghdha on the funded workforce plan. The HSE has consistently been behind in dealing with that issue.

The issues about staffing and whether we will have the people and equipment to meet the challenges that are going to come are of deep concern. The trade unions engage with the HSE at a senior level on a weekly basis and many of these issues are discussed. The real challenge is to ensure that the correct policy decisions are taken to enable those discussions to deliver meaningful outcomes.