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

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. In terms of the overall picture on hospital capacity, everyone acknowledges that we are doing so much better now than has been the case for a very long time. January is usually a period when our hospitals have no spare beds and when we hear every morning about hundreds of people being forced to spend some of their hospital stay on trolleys. As of today, for example, we have 400 to 500 beds free across our system. There were 121 patients on trolleys this morning but mainly for clinical reasons. In Clonmel this morning there is nobody on a hospital trolley awaiting admission to a bed. The Deputy will know how different that is from the experience that we have often had at this time of year in our hospitals. That is down to the winter plan, the additional bed capacity in our hospitals and in the community and the amazing work of the staff in our hospitals and across our health service.

I do not have an up-to-date note on St. Brigid's with me but I know the Deputy has raised it previously. My understanding is that it was closed to overnight patients because it did not meet HIQA standards but it will continue to be developed as a healthcare hub for the area, including a diabetic clinic which the Deputy mentioned, as well as primary and community care. I will get more information on it for the Deputy and will let the Minister for Health and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, know that he has raised it again in the House.

There is one final thing I wish to say before finishing up. I want to recognise the very considerable milestone that was reached yesterday, namely, that 3 million polymerase chain reaction, PCR, tests have been carried out in Ireland since the pandemic began. That is more tests per head than many of the countries with which we are often compared like Germany, Finland and Australia. I congratulate everybody working in our testing system in the laboratories, swabbing centres and in management in back offices, for having reached that considerable milestone. They deserve to be congratulated for that.

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