Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept this is a 12 month of the year challenge and problem. Capacity is a major issue across so many hospitals. For this reason, we have provided an additional 240 beds so far this year, with more to come before the end of the year. We have spent tens of millions of euro doing this. The health budget for next year is about maintaining and supporting services, but also about transformation. There has been an enormous increase in the budget allocation for next year for healthcare. The Government is committed to an ongoing reform programme consistent with Sláintecare that can deal with capacity over time.

The Taoiseach's comments earlier this week in regard to preparing for the challenges that we know are coming through the Christmas period and through January focused on one particular element. We need to have an honest conversation about rostering and ensuring there is health leadership and full teams available in hospitals when the pressure is most intense. This is not an unreasonable issue to raise. The Taoiseach and I and everybody else accept that there are many other issues that need to be resolved over time to enable us deal with capacity in a comprehensive way.

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