Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I apologise. Through the Chair, some of the issues that arise concern privacy, as well as whether someone is on a trolley. Many issues exist, which is the reason that capacity improvements and creating a better environment, including the provision of toilet and other facilities, constitute part of what we seek to do.

As for the setting of targets, we never had them until some time ago when we set the 12-hour target. The six-hour target will be from the time one arrives and not simply from the time one is seen. I accept Deputy Reilly's point that it is not simply when the accident and emergency consultant decides that one may require admission but when someone else in the house comes down and so decides. In the first instance, we seek a target of six hours from the time one presents until one can either go home or be admitted to an acute bed.

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