Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Implementation of Sláintecare Reforms: Department of Health and HSE
Mr. Robert Watt:
Yes. There are two issues: capital and staffing. I have not read the details of the ESRI report but I would be surprised if we disagree with it. We need more capacity. We are operating at too high a level of occupancy all the time. It is just not sustainable for our system that we are operating at 95%-plus occupancy of beds on average throughout the year. It is just too tight. We accept that. The Minister has mandated and challenged us to come back with proposals to accelerate the beds up.
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