David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry but I need to come back in again. Elective hospitals are a long way down the road and I want those hospitals to be delivered as quickly as possible. All elected representatives and members of this committee get representations. I refer to an elderly woman waiting for more than two years to see a pain specialist, children with scoliosis waiting longer for treatment, people on trolleys in record numbers and waiting times going up. Mr. Reid made reference to 1,150 beds. I refer to the baseline figures he is working off, namely, the 1,146 additional beds being in place by the end of 2021. Those beds are in addition to 2019 and not 2020. That is the reality. Most of them are already there and have been made permanent. I have spoken to hospital managers, including the manager in Waterford, who have told me that unless capital funding is provided, they will not have the space to open beds and yet there was not much additional capital funding in the budget. Therefore, of all these beds that are being promised, is Mr. Reid saying that they will only be opened using existing space or will capital funding be made available to hospitals where they need it, whether it is to build rapid build modular units or physical infrastructure? Despite all the numbers being thrown out in relation beds and staff levels, the waiting times paint a very different picture. Would Mr. Reid agree?