Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Like her, I am acutely aware of the number of people on trolleys. I also accept the INMO figures. I appreciate that the HSE uses a different model, but the Deputy and I have used the INMO figures for a long time.

With regard to reduced capacity, the figure is not 40%. Deputy Cullinane and I had a conversation about this earlier. The reduced capacity in terms of acute beds is reducing all the time. The figure we were given initially was 20%. That figure has now come down quite a lot thanks to the work of the HSE and individual hospitals working with the HPSC. It is closer to 40%, as the Deputy said, for some issues such as complex diagnostics and somewhat complex surgeries. In most cases, across the system we expect reduced capacity to be significantly less than 40% and some of the things we are doing to deal with that include extending telemedicine for outpatient consultations and so forth.

The specific numbers in terms of additional acute beds not yet announced this year comprise 400 acute hospital beds and 700 intermediate care beds. As the Deputy is aware, they have been brought on board from a wide variety of places. Some have come from the opening of closed capacity within full-time settings and others have been brought on board through the convention centre and other temporary places. The HSE has engaged very closely with the Department in putting together a very detailed winter plan. It includes consideration of the questions the Deputy has asked and how we turn the temporary additional beds into at least medium and, ideally, long-term beds.