Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is quite true and this is where I made the reference to the national development plan and the number of health facilities that are in line for major augmentation in the foreseeable future. This is part and parcel of it, and new hospitals in several areas, and should be.

We all have to plan ahead. The demand today may be different in five years' time. We must also recognise that, as everybody has said, the population is going up. That is the case but, sadly, the world population is coming down. That is the way it is.