Mr. Bernard Gloster:

I will give the Senator the quickest answers I can to the three and if there is anything colleagues want to add, they may do so.

The Senator put me on the hook the last day. He said he would not, but he did, and the hook worked and he got his surgical hub.

On day services, day activity get scheduled and cancelled in hospitals when there is a massive surge around patients on trolleys and when the hospital becomes unsafe and we have to distribute the trolleys across the house. Part of the reason for approving a surgical hub for Letterkenny and additional theatre capacity is that we separate out the day work so that there is a better chance of it not getting cancelled. That is as fast as we are moving with that. My preference is not to cancel day work where possible.

The Senator is 100% correct on renal care, dialysis care and all associated aspects of renal care. We are now doing off-site dialysis from the hospital in Limerick. We are doing it in Limerick city in what was an industrial building that is now developed appropriately. There are ways to develop renal capacity, but I guess we only have so much capital spend that we can allocate at a particular point in time. I am due up in Donegal again shortly, and I will certainly have a look at the renal unit myself.

In relation to cancer, I really want to say that in fairness to my own estates team and the Department's infrastructure team with the Secretary General and Mr. Derek Tierney, when the additional theatre capacity was being considered for the surgical hub in Donegal, space was immediately identified and found to increase the day treatment oncology chairs by about 100% from 15 to 30. That is a major expansion and a major part of the commitment to cancer care and to supporting people in Donegal with cancer. There is more to do - I would not deny that - but it is in at pace.

The only thing I can say about the managers who are saying the HSE is holding it up is that I always find it fascinating that HSE managers, paid a HSE cheque, always say it is the HSE that is holding it up. I would be delighted to talk to the lads up there any time.