Mr. Tadhg Daly:

It is difficult to say whether more funding would have made a difference. Everything that could be done has been done. As I stated in May in my opening remarks to the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, money is not a barrier. The temporary assistance scheme is a support mechanism to offset some of the costs. We were initially disappointed with regard to the issue around isolation beds. That was subsequently dealt with in November. In December, funding was made available in respect of the issue of visiting. I do not wish to be negative about it but we would liked to have seen those elements happen much more quickly. The total budget provided was €92 million. Only €62 million has been drawn down to date.