Ms Magdalen Rogers:

I thank Deputy Tully for her question. I will answer first on the existing number of beds. It is difficult to get a handle on the number of existing beds, to be honest, because the steering group on the implementation of the strategy has met so infrequently in terms of mapping what is in place. There are 120 beds in the National Rehabilitation Hospital. The redevelopment of the National Rehabilitation Hospital into effectively a new hospital - while very welcome and a fantastic facility - did not introduce any additional beds. There are beds in a Roscommon unit and beds recently brought on stream this year in Peamount Healthcare. Again, these are very welcome developments. To answer the Deputy's question directly, we find it difficult to get a handle on exactly how many of those 288 beds are in the system. The last estimate from the rehabilitation medicine programme stated that we have fewer than half of the specialist rehabilitation beds we need.

To answer the Deputy's question as to why the strategy has not been implemented, we see it as a matter of funding. Repeated submissions are made to the Estimates process each year for the funding of the strategy and of the rehabilitation teams. Unfortunately, that funding has not been forthcoming. In relation to the teams in community healthcare organisations, CHOs, 6 and 7 that demonstrate our project on the implementation framework, that is outlined in the disability capacity review this year as costing €5.2 million. There was only €2.6 million provided for the establishment of a managed clinical network in community healthcare organisations 6 and 7. That is only half of what is required to put in place that service. As I said in our submission, that is the one development in the neurorehabilitation strategy, the addition of some inpatient beds in Peamount hospital and the development of two implementation teams in CHOs 6 and 7, none of which is on the ground yet.