Ms Angela Fitzgerald:

Staying with the emergency department, then, we called out three main things. First, it is one of the busiest emergency departments and has the smallest bed base of the model 4 hospitals relative to its size. The requirement for the 96 beds, which are now going in, is welcome, but it is very clear that this is not sufficient. We have been strong in advocating for the second group of beds to go in there.

Second, and as I said in my opening statement, having the beds is necessary but it is not sufficient. Managing the beds effectively is the second piece. In our first inspection and in our follow-up inspection we called out very clearly the nature of the changes we felt needed to take place. I will ask Mr. Egan to comment further on that.

Third, we tried to be fair and proportionate in our approach to what was within Limerick's gift, but we also engaged with the HSE more widely around the issues we felt were outside the hospital's remit. There are also challenges in the community as regards primary and community services that are central to resolving the issues in Limerick.

In summary, we saw in our second inspection some improvements, but we know that the capacity is the single biggest issue there. We also know there is more work to be done as regards internal capability, but I might-----