Ms Angela Fitzgerald:

No, we have not. The reason we have been asked to give advice, rather than make recommendations, is that there are policy decisions involved, and the Deputy has spoken to some of them, that are not for us. What we have tried to do in setting out the options is to set out the safety imperative of doing something now. The Deputy's point is well made and we need planning now if another 100 beds would get us ahead of demographic growth. We would suggest that over and above the 96 beds that are planned to come on board for 2029, there should be immediate planning for another. That way, we would get the benefits of parallel planning, which I think the Deputy is talking about. We are not planning experts and that is not why we were asked to do the review. There are wider considerations for the Government. While we are here to speak abut Limerick today, we know, and Mr. Egan knows from his work, that Cork and other areas also have challenges. There are challenges for the Government. It must ensure that in addressing the short- and medium-term requirements identified by the ESRI for Limerick, it does not displace other areas and create a new set of issues.

We were on site in Limerick. I was in the city for another reason and we went to the site just before it opened. Mr. Egan will be down in the next few weeks to see it again. You can see clearly the impact that has and the benefits of parallel planning. That is what we are saying when we say that we need to act now.