Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

That is an extraordinary oversight given the scale of the challenges facing the health service.

Regarding elective-only hospitals, this was a clear recommendation of the Sláintecare group. We had learned from the experience in Scotland where the Scottish Government took over one private hospital and was building a second to be elective-only hospitals so that we could make quick progress through the waiting lists. What happened to that proposal? It has now been downgraded to three day hospitals rather than fully functioning elective hospitals.