Mr. Bernard Gloster:

There is a plan to raise capital behind the plan to increase the number of public community beds. On top of that, we have to move away from the traditional model of just thinking about long-term care beds. We need rehabilitation, respite, step-down and hospital avoidance beds; there are lots of different requirements. We need dementia-specific beds within our units. That is the profile on which I want to develop. We have good commitment from the Minister behind that.

Regarding Abbeyleix, I spent a couple of hours there. I was seriously impressed with what is being done in terms of a blended mix of use of community beds. It is quite outstanding. I do not want to overstate that; there is lots of good work elsewhere. There is only one long-term patient remaining there. She is a lovely person and I had the pleasure of spending some time with her. I gave them a challenge to step up to the mark on the model that is there and, in return, my view is that we could get into next year's capital plan and modular build a day centre on that site, rather than moving it off-site, because it is interconnected. That would free up the space to increase it by another five or six beds. Along with the primary care service - the GP there is a fantastic practitioner - it is a site that could explode into positive contribution in the future.