Mr. Bernard Gloster:

The numbers are high. We spoke earlier about the frailty piece in respect of people over the age of 75. That is a very significant factor. We all know that UHL is challenged and that comes up in lights. Other sites have similar challenges but they are not as visible. We have taken practical steps. When I commenced in this role, one of the pieces of work that Mr. McCallion did, shortly after Christmas, was a temporary expansion of the medical assessment units at St. John's Hospital and Nenagh hospital to bring them up to seven-day functionality, as is the case in Ennis hospital. I have now put that expansion in place permanently. I have given approval for the recruitment of 55 additional staff and a budget of €5.5 million to do that. That plan is being rolled out by the hospitals as quickly as possible. They are using a mix of overtime and agency staff until they can recruit but they have approval to permanently recruit. It is important for us to bring certainty to that model.

I am sure that when he drives past the hospital, the Senator will see the ongoing construction of the 96-bed tower ward on top of the emergency department. That building is moving at pace. It will, I hope, come on stream in early 2025. That 96-bed tower will comprise roughly 50% new beds and 50% replacement beds because some of the existing bed stock is quite challenged. UHL got additional beds during the pandemic. I am hoping, subject to some further and final thoughts, that the Minister will have more to say on the issue in the coming while. UHL has received an expansion of emergency department consultants in the recent winter plan piece. It has filled, temporarily or otherwise, a number of those positions. Quite a lot is happening.

Part of the issue for Limerick, as Deputy Shortall rightly raised, is not what we do in the hospital but what we do outside the hospital. Similar to other groups, yesterday evening I gave the chief officer in UHL full permission to test the expansion of transition care not only for people coming out of hospital but for people potentially going in. It is a form of respite. We will be dependent on the availability of private nursing home places to do that. Substantial new infrastructure is going into place in the Senator's own country. Planning permission for 100 beds in Ennis hospital has been granted to replace St. Joseph's Hospital.

The Senator is familiar with the history of that.