Dr. Robert Sweeney:

One thing I would flag is that in the context of spending on healthcare in Ireland, spending on inpatient care is one of the big drivers for why we spend more than it appears we should be spending. There are a couple of reasons for that. As mentioned in the Sláintecare document, it is widely acknowledged we are over-reliant on hospitals. One issue is that there are not always step-down facilities for people within the hospital system. There might be mainly older people in the hospital setting who might be better or more appropriately treated in a community care setting. If we continue to invest in primary care centres and local community care, that would free up some of the space within hospitals.

The big issue, as everyone knows, is the waiting times. They differ according to treatment. Cancer and radiotherapy waiting times typically among the lower ones. We still have a big problem with waiting times but the survival rates and mortality rates for treatment, including for cancer treatment, are pretty good in Ireland. There is, however, a big issue in Ireland around building things and investing in infrastructure. I mentioned previously in response to one of the other questions that the planning system is often a hindrance to big infrastructure projects. This raises the cost of a lot of public services and capital projects in Ireland.