Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I said earlier, the intention now is to go, at a minimum, to 340 by the end of 2022. We are at close to 300 or 301 at the end of this year and we need to expand it even further. Recruitment and training of staff will be the key ingredient there; it will not be an absence of resources. Currently, we have 130 people in ICU, as of today, and 638 in hospital. These are large numbers which, in themselves and in addition to non-Covid illnesses, are creating a lot of pressure on intensive care staff and hospital staff in general, who have had to deal with a once in a century pandemic for the guts of two years. That is extremely pressurising on any employee, particularly patient-facing employees and those in the engine room of the ICU in particular. It is very challenging and difficult and I acknowledge that. This is why we have made it clear we will provide whatever resources are required to continue to give the capacity to the HSE in terms of how it operates hospitals and so on, with the clinical staff needed to deal with the situation.

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