Mr. Eoin Barry:

Specifically on a private space for families to meet in inpatient facilities, we would consider that as an important issue, partly because the Constitution expressly puts a lot of importance on families, but it is also the case that when families are in that kind of distress it is very important for them to have a private space to meet. We did not envisage that resulting in the need for a bed to be closed in a facility, for example. It would be more the case that at times a private space could be made available. Generally speaking, we would not think it is a significant demand that would result in units or anything else being closed, but to be fair, we had not considered the possibility of closures, as Deputy Hourigan correctly points out.