Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

-----and that €20 million at least will be reinstated. I hope I am correct in that and that there will be news soon.

The third issue I want to raise is the question of Citywest. The HSE is paying at least €25 million for the use of the Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre as an isolation facility and field hospital and it has the use of that facility up to the end of October. Earlier, the Minister referred to the long-promised HSE roadmap. I am concerned that we are running out of time in the arrangement with the private hospitals. There are beds there that should be completely used to best effect but Citywest also should be. We are paying good and substantial public money for it and we need to utilise that facility. Thankfully, we did not see the surge and the intended use was not required, although I would like to get further information on what the isolation rooms were used for. The reality is there is a hotel now with 756 bedrooms in it and there are also 300 beds in the field hospital. At a time when there are long waiting lists for all kinds of health services, there are more than 1,000 beds being paid for which are lying empty. Can the Minister tell us how will the Citywest convention centre be used, given that it is under the control of the HSE until the end of October and how will the field hospital of 300 beds there be used? Can the Minister combine that with the roadmap from the HSE and the capacity within private hospitals at present? Can the Minister ensure that that massive costly facility is utilised to the maximum?

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