Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In terms of capacity and revenue funding, this year has seen a record deployment in that regard. There is revenue available and there is capital available. I can assure the Deputy of that. However, capital applications are not only about new beds. New diagnostics, new operating theatres and new triage rooms have to be looked at and that is happening. Where capital funding is required, it will be provided. The tighter constraint is staff. There is no point putting the beds in place unless we have the staff. There was a very ambitious target for this year in terms of staff. We will be rolling much of that target into next year. Do we need more beds? We do. Do we need more ICU beds, more diagnostics, more rehab beds and more community beds? Absolutely, we do. At the same time, we have to hire and retain the staff to make sure the patients in those beds get the care they need.

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