Mr. Paul Bolger:

I do not have the figures in that regard from last July to now but I can revert to the committee with that detail. The NTPF has found that offers of treatment lead to a validation process.

Deputy O'Connell asked about the role of the NTPF. In my earlier responses, I made the point that the NTPF is a statutory body. Its function is to assess the price and it has a commissioning body in place to that end. We have a governance structure in place to manage that statutory body. There is no passing of the buck. It is clear that the NTPF has statutory responsibility for pricing but we have a clear governance structure for its management.

Deputy O'Connell also asked about the range of reforms required. The capacity review contains several scenarios, two of which are very stark. One concerns the introduction of a very extensive range of reforms, all of which are set out in the capacity review, and a subsequent requirement for 2,600 additional beds. The capacity review also points out that issues in terms of staffing and planning were not considered but it highlights future work that must be carried out and the reform programme that must be undertaken in the context of Sláintecare. All of the documents produced to date indicate that extra beds are needed. The capacity review sets out a very ambitious range of headline reforms and also points to other work that needs to take place, including the issue of theatre capacity, to which reference was made.