Professor Brian Lenehan:

The demographic growth will be in line with demographic growth across the country, but what we have and what we face is an unmet need that is currently there. We face a delay in care. This has been there for the past number of years as a result of Covid. Based on the HSE's planning, we know that we are going to have a deficit of another number of beds going forward even when we get to where we need to be. At some stage, we need to try to future-proof the service in order that we do not find ourselves back to square one in ten or 15 years' time. The longer we live, the frailer we get. There are more healthcare needs for that population. It is the same population but they have multiple morbidities. They are living longer. They are living well for longer because of the interventions they are having with hospitals, GPs and community health networks. It is about funding that and putting the capital infrastructure in place to be able to serve that into the future. This is what we will need after the next bed block that Professor Cowan alluded to.