Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

I do agree that it is about planning. I agree that we will need to review everything we have done to see what we could have done better and improve for the future. On Limerick, in terms of private hospitals that have beds that would be suitable, there is none or are very few. It is a matter of geography and patient preference as to why there are only five. The question is whether, for example, Limerick could use beds in Cork if they were available.

That is something the hospital is actively considering but some of it is just a question of geography. If you look at where the private hospitals are, you can see they tend to be in urban centres and tend be used by hospitals within close travelling distance for reasons of patient safety and in some cases, staff, because in some cases we have to share staff with those private hospitals. It is not as simple as it might appear.