Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a challenge in all of this about home care at the moment. The big challenge is getting staff. The issue of the number of beds that are occupied by people who could have been discharged consistently comes up. For instance, I knew of three people at one stage in Cork University Hospital, CUH, who could have been discharged. In fact, one was in hospital for 12 months more than he should have been. It was just trying to get a facility that would accept him. Surely, a better structure can be put in place to deal with that.

The second issue I raised was about the Christmas period last year. The Minister has been talking about consultants working at weekends.. However, if a consultant discharges someone on a Saturday and that person needs to go into a step-down facility, are the people in place on the administrative side to get that person out of the hospital and into the appropriate step-down setting? Has there been engagement with the HSE on that issue?