Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

As Deputy Kenny knows, the GP out-of-hours service is excellent in many parts of the country. Until recently, we were not able to resolve the service in a large part of Dublin, covering about half a million patients. Thankfully, those negotiating that issue have now concluded an agreement which will become operational from 1 September. That has been publicly announced. That coverage is very important because up to now, as I regularly pointed out, people without the out-of-hours service had no alternative but to attend accident and emergency units in three or four of the hospitals out of the 13 where there was a difficulty.

Deputy Kenny is not correct on the step-down facilities. Last year, more than 500 beds were used from private nursing homes for step-down beds and already this year over 300 have been provided. About 50 people per week finish their acute treatment in hospitals and they are the people who require step-down facilities.

See this speech in context