Mr. Bernard Gloster:

Certainly, regardless of the view of financial pressures, we are concerned at the loss of any capacity in the system. At the moment, the demand for care is there, and it is going to continue. The demographics of the population indicate that. While people are living longer and there are certainly improvements in the quality of life, our focus is on trying to build as much support to avoid people going into care as far as possible. However, the reality is that care is needed. Ireland is very heavily dependent on private nursing home volume as part of the mix, so when there is loss of capacity in the system it can have a serious impact on patient flow and access to care for people near to their own homes, families or counties.