James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

There is no intention on my part to reduce the capacity any further. I believe we have the waiting lists we have because we do not have sufficient capacity. Before there is any reopening of beds, I want to ensure we get the maximum value from the beds we have. I have met the clinical teams and in many cases we could have many more discharges within 48 hours of admission to hospital. We could organise our situations in a very different fashion. If a surgeon arrives in the morning and can only do three out of the eight cases he or she was supposed to do, that is a management issue in failing to provide the nurse, intensive care bed or theatre staff. Those situations will be addressed and we are reviewing that with management. In fairness, there has been a problem for some time and there will be considerable change. I am very pleased that the change has started already and I am very encouraged by the appetite for change of many of the people working within the system. By the end of this year I hope to be able to give the Deputy much better news than the news we are experiencing today.

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