David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

No, it does; we have it from the HSE itself. A very small allocation of capital funding is being made available - €45 million, as the Minister said in his opening statement. I have spoken to many hospital managers, including those in my own constituency and elsewhere, who do not have the space to open new beds. A lot of the wards are old nightingale wards, so when these managers hear about thousands of additional beds, they wonder where the staff are coming from, and they do not have the physical space. Is the Minister looking at rapid build modular units in some of those hospitals? If he is, why was there not a greater capital allocation made? I am concerned that figures are being thrown out in relation to the opening of additional beds. If the capital funding is not made available to match the funding required to recruit the staff, hospitals simply will not have the space to open them. I have that concern myself and I have had the same concern directly communicated to me by hospital managers. I ask the Minister to respond.