Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

I will make a couple of points. We will have to agree to disagree in terms of the failure of leadership. Like the Deputy, we do not feel that the numbers on trolleys today or yesterday are acceptable. We accept that staff are under significant pressure. No form of bullying or any kind of assault of our staff by anyone is condoned by us. Those matters are taken very seriously. We are trying to do everything we can to support those staff, many of whom we have met on visits in recent weeks, in practical terms.

In fairness, the Deputy cannot argue when it comes to capacity. Do we need more capacity? Yes. In terms of acute hospital beds, which is only one form of capacity, I checked the position over the past 40 years. There have never been as many beds put in place in a three-year period during past 40 years as the 970 that were put in place in the three years up to the end of last year. Is that enough? No. Is it the only type of capacity we need? No. Are the €240 million investment in enhanced community care and the €210 million investment in GP services, including €18 million worth of developments, enough? No, they not, but all these things are going in the right direction.