Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The question refers to the north side of our capital city, but that is part of the Dublin/North-East HSE region, if the questioner will excuse me for making the point. When was the last time an audit of all hospital beds across this region was carried out, and what was the result? Does the Minister of State have the information to hand? If not, will she furnish it to the Deputies representing the various parties here this evening?

Does the Minister of State also note that the HSE's plan for this region is clearly a further reduction in the overall number of hospital beds, adding to the calamitous situation that currently pertains across the Dublin/North-East region? Is she conscious of the HSE claims that bed reductions will be compensated for by the introduction of further home-care packages and long-term residential placements for older people, as the previous questioner mentioned, occupying inpatient hospital beds?

Where will the funding come from? We do not have any of the promised packages in place. Where will the funding come from to compensate for this continual erosion of bed opportunities throughout the Dublin/north-east region?

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