David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would support moving to appoint those six CEOs as quickly as possible.

.

Deputy Gino Kenny:I thank the witnesses for their statements. To use the medical term, all vital signs are progressing in the right direction regarding Sláintecare and its concept. The vast majority of people in the country want to see the concept being implemented as soon as possible. There are historical inequalities regarding access to healthcare. It was a breath of fresh air last week to hear the new CEO, Mr. Gloster, speak about wanting to be hands-on during his five-year tenure. People listening will want to know a number of things. What is Sláintecare going to do to address the historical inequalities regarding bed capacity and waiting times? The waiting list action plan is a good idea but the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, IHCA, has been very critical of it. The IHCA's main criticism is that this issue will take over a decade to be resolved because of the historical inequalities around bed capacity. If Sláintecare cannot address bed capacity, there will be a knock-on effect on everything we are trying to do. What are we doing regarding capacity?