Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are doing everything we can to that end. I very much share the Senator's concern. We will allocate home care hours, staff, beds, diagnostics, frailty intervention teams and much more. However, he is correct to point out that the system is under a lot of pressure. What we are seeing in Limerick and other areas is people coming in who may be sicker than normal, and who, because of the pandemic, have perhaps waited or have not had the care during the year they would normally get. They are less resilient at the moment and their average length of stay is longer. That is what the emergency medicine professionals are telling me. Therefore, it is a real concern and we need a comprehensive package in place on that.