Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

First, is the Minister aware that there is significant public and, indeed, professional opposition to this project, that she does not have a mandate for what she is doing and that it is surely better practice to ensure that the election is held before any irrevocable decisions are made?

Second, I challenge her statement here that the aim of this plan is to transfer private activity and ask her how she intends to do that. Every patient in the State has an entitlement to a public bed. The vast majority of patients, regardless of whether they are public or private, who come into public hospitals come through accident and emergency departments. If a private patient gets a bed in a public hospital, how does she intend to remove him or her?

What exactly is the loss of funding that will be experienced by public hospitals, which will still see some private patients in beds but will not be able to charge them for those beds? I note, for example, that Beaumont Hospital stated in its most recent report that 40% of its private capacity was used to provide for emergency and isolation cases.

Will the Minister outline the exact position with regard to the consultants' contracts? Does she expect the contracts to allow consultants to work in both types of hospital and to provide private and public care, as is currently the case? How will that be different from the current arrangement, apart from the distance factor? Will she make the terms of the tender available to the Members of this House?

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