Mr. Bernard Gloster:

Everybody will know, as I am on the public record from two recent significant media interviews, that I do not dispute for one minute the conclusion that what has happened and is happening in Limerick is unacceptable. It is unacceptable to me and it is unacceptable to expect people to tolerate that over a sustained period. That is the first thing. I am not going to get defensive about it and when the committee comes to Limerick, we can go into all the detail. The second point is that Limerick has not been wanting in recent years in terms of resources. There is no question of that. Significant construction is going on there, which validates that they need further investment. I have made some interventions there recently to try to assist that but regardless of the additional resources we bring, there undoubtedly also is a question of reform of practice within the hospital in terms of how it operates from Monday to Friday.