Mr. Ronnie Downes:

I thank the Deputy for those questions. Yes, there is a plan to increase health capacity. The latest budget was difficult and was framed in the context of the Covid-19 response. The Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, prioritised the provision of additional resources for the health sector, specifically to address issues that had been highlighted in a capacity review conducted in 2017 or 2018, such as the need for investment in bed capacity and in ICU and critical care bed capacity. I think an addition of the order of €1.2 billion was provided for the health sector in the budget, specifically to enable that capacity uplift to be made. That was agreed with the Minister for Health and his Department, on top of the additional Covid-specific measures, such as for personal protective equipment, PPE, and so on, and the additional allocation to enable the existing range of healthcare services to continue to be provided.

That, in turn, has worked its way through to the HSE and its service plan. Of course, there are many moving parts in the health sector, with unexpected changes in directions of travel and challenges facing the Deputy's colleagues in the health sector at the moment, but the resources have been put in place to enable this to be addressed. We as a Department are in regular contact with our counterparts and colleagues in the Department of Health and the HSE to assess the degree to which progress is being made-----