David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to be unfair to Mr. Gloster, but the last thing people want to hear is excuses. We have been listening to excuses for years. When we say we want delivery at pace and when we say we want timely implementation, I put it to Mr. Gloster that one of the key issues, though not the sole one, is beds in hospitals. The IMO says it, the INMO says it and hospital managers say it. Every time I talk to her, Grace Rothwell, the general manager of University Hospital Waterford, acknowledges her hospital is a success but says it needs more beds and I should keep pressing for them. Given we announced in 2020 we would deliver 1,228 beds and it is 2023 and I am being told 49 of those will not be delivered until 2024, I suggest that is not delivering at pace. Unless we deal with that and unless we are asking serious questions of ourselves at the top of the HSE about why it is taking so long to get it done, we are not going to get the public confidence we need. When Mr. Gloster meets hospital managers, they will ask to see the colour of the money, where the beds they looked for are, where the surgical theatre capacity is and where the extensions are. Managers are forwarding capital plans and they are not being delivered.