Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Where there is capacity in a hospital to do elective surgery, and there are empty beds, are we then not making the waiting lists longer in hospitals? This is occurring in hospitals right around the country.

What can be done to use beds that are empty and theatre space that is available to make sure we deal with people who require urgent care? Surely we can put in place enough mechanisms to protect people coming in and at the same time deliver the service.