Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Perfect.

As for the elective care issues, I think Dr. Molloy or someone else stated that we really need 24-7 inpatient beds in conjunction with elective hospitals. We have this debate in Galway because there are plans for an elective hospital at Merlin Park and for the emergency department at University Hospital Galway, UHG. Depending on traffic, there is a serious distance between them. Effectively, we have a day hospital only, with no inpatient beds, yet we have one of the highest levels of overcrowding. Certainly, we did before Christmas and the neighbouring period, when one in eight patients in Galway, or 12%, was on a trolley, yet we had no acute beds under the winter plan because there was no physical space. An elective hospital is proposed with the promise of acute beds on the never-never. I am concerned about this. I have always been concerned but I am even more concerned about the testimonies here that we really need inpatient beds in conjunction with elective hospitals.