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

The point I am making is that there are 600 beds occupied at any one time. Perhaps it is 500; it varies from day to day. What I am saying is that, in many cases, there are not appropriate step-down facilities to transfer people to and that, as a result, people are staying in hospital beds while people who are waiting to get into hospital cannot do so.