David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister might have seen that I was wearing my 24-7 cardiac care for Waterford mask. I am sure he has not forgotten about that campaign. I welcome the Minister and his team. I have a lot of questions to get through in my ten minutes. As an experienced politician, I am sure the Minister will know that I need distinct answers to the questions if that is possible. I know we are dealing with very complex issues.

I shall first turn to the preparedness for the coming weeks and months in our acute hospitals. We are dealing with Covid care, non-Covid care, missed care, the need for catch-up care and so on. Given that hospitals cannot exceed 80% capacity to ensure we have surge capacity, and given the required infection control and social distancing measures, what is the anticipated shortfall in acute bed capacity? Will the Minister say how many beds make up the anticipated shortfall, if he has that figure?