Mr. Michael Fitzgerald:

Absolutely not, but I am saying it is our intention to do it with the local authority. It is an important point. With respect to other long-stay care facilities, we want to replace the unit at St. Stephen's Hospital. It is a very important facility where we have land and we want to replace it. There are also difficulties there with the regulatory piece but it is an important centre. We also need to replace St. Catherine's unit in St. Finbarr's Hospital. There are a number of challenges for units in Cork as they are not fit for purpose at this point with regard to regulatory issues. They should be replaced.

As Dr. O'Brien has said, we must take a broader view of where those services can be provided so we can get an appropriate date when a bed is required to meet the needs of a person with mental health requirements. We absolutely must put our full and utter focus on maintaining people in their own homes. I have worked in these services for almost 40 years, and for a good 30 of those, we spent our time trying to develop services in the community and get away from 24-hour institutional care and very large services that were difficult to close over a long period. It is an important point.

The Deputy raised a different matter on access to vaccines.