Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That cannot continue for the next couple of months. It seems that one of the major factors was the fact that there were so many delayed discharges, which was reducing bed capacity. That is why the additional money is being provided for community beds under the fair deal scheme, to free hospitals of the current level of delayed discharges in order that they can operate more effectively. That is under way. It will happen in the next couple of weeks and should allow them to employ their resources more effectively. Savings are supposed to come from turning very expensive agency staff into staff with proper contracts, whether fixed-term or permanent, from savings in procurement and from any reduction in drug costs we can achieve during negotiations with the industry. Reference pricing will also help to bring down bills for hospitals.

See this speech in context