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

The Government does not sanction individual beds in hospitals. We have sanctioned a very big increase of approximately €1 billion in health spending for next year, but the sanctioning of individual budgets for hospitals or parts of hospitals is carried out at either HSE or hospital group level. This morning, once again, there is an enormous variation in overcrowding. There is zero or one in some hospitals such as Mullingar or Blanchardstown and very high numbers in other hospitals, including hospitals that have received extra beds. What we must see in the new year is whether the additional beds in Letterkenny are used to the maximum benefit of the patients and whether overcrowding goes down. If they are used to maximum benefit and bring overcrowding down, it can then be extended further.

See this speech in context