Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I am trying to answer the questions Deputy Rabbitte put to me. The last question he asked was about what additional issues we are addressing. In response to what he said and just in case there is any confusion, we have not abandoned any of the remaining points of the ten-point plan. The purpose of the new task force which the Tánaiste has announced is to bring together those people who have expertise in co-operation and who have proved in their own hospitals how one can get a better flow of patients to wards, better discharging practices and better time in discharge which are all relevant to this problem and how we can deal with it.

I should not be answering for Professor Drumm and the HSE but the point he has made is that pro rata, the ratio of the number of acute beds in this country per thousand of population and the number of staff compared with the age profile of the population is far higher here than it is in the UK or in most other countries.

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