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

That is not the point. There are far too many patients waiting for admission to a proper hospital bed almost every day of the week, all year around. What can we do about that? Obviously better and proper management systems make a difference and we know that from the hospitals that are performing well. We also need more beds and better primary care so people do not end up in hospital in the first place. Additional beds cost money as does additional funding for primary care and general practice. Additional staff also costs money but if we put too much money into pay rises for existing staff, there will be less money available for more beds, more staff and for primary care and patients will lose out.

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