Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister, the CEO and everybody here today. We had good engagement the last day Mr. Gloster and the rest of the team were here to address waiting lists, outsourcing and insourcing. I welcome the publication of the HIQA report yesterday.

As the Minister said, one of the biggest things is the shortage of beds. That is leading to people waiting. How will we address between now and the end of the year the 90-bed shortage highlighted in the report? The HIQA report highlighted there is a long-term shortage and a short-term shortage.

I compliment Ms Broderick and the staff on the job they are doing in UHL. Many waiting times have been reduced but there is no PET scanner there. I met representatives of the Irish Cancer Society recently and they said people have to go to private hospitals to get a scan. There is a six- to eight-week waiting time. If there was a PET scanner in UHL, the time could be reduced. That is important for people, especially when they are being diagnosed.

The OPD toolkit was referred to earlier. It is in four to six hospitals. Will it be rolled out nationally to other hospitals?

I would also like to raise the speech and language waiting lists and the shortage of speech and language therapists.