Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

I do not agree. When we launched the winter plan, we had a very low-key technical briefing for the press. There was no big launch. We see the winter plan as an important but ongoing contribution to trying to mitigate the problems. We know the congestion in the emergency departments is a symptom of the wider system and that is why we are focused both on investing in and improving what happens before people have to go to hospital, what happens in hospital, and what happens afterwards. We would not accept the statement that it is a media exercise. We are planning on keeping people apprised of the winter plan, its progress, the challenges being faced, and what staff and the HSE are doing about them. We do not accept it is purely a media exercise. It is focused on trying to mitigate very significant pressures of which we are very much aware.