Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Perhaps a different type of bed is needed. I have accepted that before. This is why we must try to take up more beds. There have been many initiatives which have worked very well in many hospitals. For example, Kilkenny, Waterford, Limerick and other hospitals have a superb record of dealing with such issues.

As for out of hours general practitioner services, I hope the discussions, which are now making good progress, will facilitate them in the regions. In particular, I refer to the northern part of west Dublin, where an out of hours GP service for 500,000 people will be opened up. The negotiations aimed to achieve this goal by the end of last week. Hence, these are important issues.

As for all the issues raised by the Deputy in respect of energy, the Minister has already stated that he will issue a paper dealing with all of them. I am unsure of the date.

We have a very good system here in respect of food labelling and traceability. While I am not familiar with the status of all commitments, our traceability is good and food product standards are very high. They match European and international food standards. This is why——

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