Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We are beginning to roll out additional bed capacity. The Chairman asked when new builds or extensions would open. There are 40 beds due to be opened this year in Clonmel. I think there are approximately 50 due to be opened in Drogheda, while 60 are under way in University Hospital Limerick. When we publish the capital plan shortly, it will show how we will endeavour to roll out further beds in the coming two to three years.

On elective surgery-only hospitals, I bow to the Chairman's knowledge, but I would not be satisfied with not selecting sites until then. My understanding was sites would be selected this year, but I will check and come back to the Chairman on the matter. As the Department keeps explaining, there is a bigger body of work to be done, as opposed to just picking a site, in deciding what will be provided in the elective surgery-only hospital. It varies from country to country. When I visited Scotland recently, I saw what had been done there. There is even an intensive care unit. The services to be provided will have a bearing on the site chosen. I know that the committee will receive a comprehensive briefing on Sláintecare this afternoon.

The Chairman made a fair point about consultant vacancies. We have seen the number of consultants in the system rise, but there are many vacant consultant posts, which is a cause of concern to me. I have recently met several consultants. I have met the Irish Hospital Consultants Association and the IMO and discussed the issue with individual consultants. The Public Service Pay Commission states there should be a process in place to deal with the issue of consultant pay. I will be working my way through it with colleagues to see how best the Government should respond.

The Chairman welcomed the restoration of funding for general practice. I will consider the fellowship programme again. The Department and I will respond to the Chairman's suggestion, for which we thank him. With the IMO we have agreed to increase the rural allowance by 10% from next year and, for the first time ever, establish an urban deprivation fund, something about which the Chairman had spoken to me. The Deep End group had made a point about the inverse relationship between the availability of health services and meeting the health needs of a community. There is a fund of €2 million available this year and will be every other year. We need to work out how best to utilise it. I will come back to the Chairman on the idea of a fellowship programme.