Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I realise that fully, and the Deputy knows from our detailed discussions, both in one-on-one meetings that we have had in his capacity as Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and in my public actions and comments, that I fully recognise it. Mentioning Storm Emma is not about making an excuse, but about recognising what front-line staff and management tell me, which is that the already overcrowded situation was further exacerbated. Certainly the storm did not cause the trolley situation. I never said that or suggested that it did.

Capacity is a key issue here. I do not want to see primary care and community care pitted against acute hospital care. If one actually looks at the capacity review, it is very clear that even after all the reforms very clearly articulated in Sláintecare, which we need and want to make, there will still be a need for additional bed capacity in the health service. That is bed capacity that was not put in during the Celtic tiger years, or was taken out long before the troika arrived in town.

I have been very clear that I have the funding to deliver the 2,600 additional acute hospital beds through Project Ireland 2040. That is a ten year capital plan. Some projects, such as building a wing in a hospital, take time. We know that, but what can I do now, quickly, to get additional beds into the system? The HSE is carrying out an audit of where new beds could go into existing buildings, and where other methods like modular build could significantly increase capacity in the system for this winter. That is absolutely vital. Some hospitals are paving the way. If one looks at the trolley figures in Beaumont Hospital or Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda, one sees how we can make progress where capacity is added to primary care and acute hospital care along with appropriate management.

See this speech in context