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

There are different reasons and different issues why beds cannot be opened. Much of it has to do with planning, for example, but if the Deputy will let me answer his question I will do so.

I have itemised the 240 beds that were opened. Another 79 beds will be opened. They have been delayed but they are planned for this quarter and the first quarter of 2019. That includes an additional 30 bed ward in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and a 40 bed modular ward block in South Tipperary General Hospital, which was due to be open by now but is under construction. There will also be four additional high-dependency beds in the Mater Private Hospital in Cork.

On the numbers of patients experiencing time on trolleys, it is important to point out that the official numbers show that the numbers of patients who have had to spend time on a trolley waiting for a bed has been down month on month. It was down in May compared with May of last year and it was down in June, July, August, September and October.

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