Ms Noeleen Moran:

We are not clinical experts. Former clinicians at UHL have already stated that patients, from County Clare especially, should be moved through Ennis Hospital and filtered from there. Only those patients needing the most intensive care should be sent on to the accident and emergency department in UHL. We do not, though, have the hospital at that level yet. It has not been upgraded and we do not have an accident and emergency department, so that cannot happen. The ambulance protocol brought into being resulted in only three beds being set aside in Ennis Hospital. I think it is the same in the hospital in Nenagh. Tricia will confirm that. Three beds are not going to make a drop in the ocean when the figure for overcapacity in the accident and emergency department in UHL is 10,000.

When we met with Bernard Gloster, the CEO of the HSE, he told us his hands are tied because he is administering a policy that has been handed to him. It is clinicians who are advising the Department of Health. We asked if there was representation from the mid-west among them, because it does not feel like it. He did tell us he would come back to us and give us more detail on what is happening about who these clinicians are who are advising and designing the programme for the mid-west, because it is clearly not working and functioning for us.

I do not know if I can answer the Deputy's question because I do not have the expertise to do so. I know it is not necessary to be an expert to recognise when something is broken, not working and not serving the people of County Clare, Nenagh or Limerick. The Deputy has spoken a great deal about this issue during his time in office. Regarding what can be done in five years, it is in the hands and power of the Oireachtas Members to do it. The policy document being blamed for this situation, the small hospitals framework development plan from 2013, needs to be scrutinised and examined. We are being told our hospitals are locked in as model 2 hospitals and cannot change out of that shape because they are guided by this policy document. In the next few months before the next election comes around, I suggest this document be examined and pulled apart.