Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

We know that and we see it every day. We have introduced an initiative to create 1,000 new public beds by having the private sector build private hospitals on sites of public hospitals and that is helping. We put in funding for 900 inpatient beds in acute hospitals and that is having an effect. We put in facilities to improve patient flow and we obtained extra staff in almost every accident and emergency unit. Deputy Kenny is right that the initiative in Kilkenny is good. It is for that reason that the person who devised the Kilkenny unit has been taken out of there and has been put on the national service. That is part of what Deputy Kenny has accused me of not doing, namely, to co-ordinate the activity around the country to try to bring the same success in Kilkenny elsewhere. They are dedicated people in the HSE co-ordinating their efforts with accident and emergency departments every day.

The ten point plan is being implemented. I readily admit there are still difficulties as I hear that every day. However, there has been an enormous amount of activity in the last year and in the last number of years.

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