Mr. Robert Morton:

It is. HSE policy is to continue to develop our own intermediate care service. Equally, however, one of the valuable lessons we have learned from Covid is that there is always a need to have access to surge capacity. Private ambulance companies and voluntary organisations have ably provided that surge capacity, particularly in supporting patient flow between hospitals. There is a place for the private ambulance sector, but the HSE's policy is basically to develop our own intermediate care service.