Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There is a principle to which the health service operates that I cannot understand. It is outsourcing and buying private capacity, whether with beds, staff or services generally. This is a trend we have seen in recent years and it seems to be accelerating. Outsourcing has been going on at a gallop. At what point will the HSE call a stop to that and start investing in direct services? The current service plan does not provide for any net new beds. Why is that the case? We are going to continue to be dependent on private beds if we do not provide for public beds.