Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

There are approximately 13,400 beds in the public hospital system and the Minister has said that approximately 960 of these are closed at present. While this may not be an accurate measurement, we can take it that the number is between 890 and 960. Does the Minister suggest that to address the closure of hospital beds, he proposes reducing the overall number of beds and keeping the reduced number of beds open all the time? Does he intend to reduce the capacity and the number of beds in the system as opposed to having a large number and sometimes closing them when hospitals run into difficulties?

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