Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

On staffing, the lack of a funded annual workforce plan means the plan is very ad hoc. We have to refer very regularly to the Workplace Relations Commission for increased staffing when the volume of patients increases. Every day, as the Irish Medical Organisation has just pointed out, we have sometimes two wards' worth of patients for whom there is no allocation of nurses. Even worse, we have examples where trolleys are being moved from emergency departments, EDs, into different areas so they do not form part of the count. To our mind, that is absolutely scandalous. That is not looking after the patient. That is making sure the trolley count figure is low and that is simply not acceptable. We raise that with each hospital manager in each site when it happens because our figures, regardless of where the trolley is, are counted on the basis that that is the true and accurate figure, which must be recorded because the consequences for patients and the consequences of not having proper staffing are that care is not delivered.