David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The CEO of CHI knows the difference between the access to care fund and ongoing revenue funding, as do I. I believe the Minister is to meet with the CEO and her team next week. The point the CEO was making, and asked me to relay back to the Minister, is that this particular fund is not the solution for them. It is not a sustainable solution. Yes, they can use some of it, but the CEO told me that €30 million to €40 million of that can be used for revenue funding. They would prefer it if they could get €8 million or €9 million of revenue funding. Whether it comes from that fund or from somewhere else is immaterial. They need to recruit the staff. Given all of the concerns that we have had on this particular issue, I think it should be done and the commitment should be given.

On the surgical theatre space, we heard again, earlier this week, from Mr. Connor Green, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Temple Street, that the cancellation of procedures causes real difficulty for families and children. We need to avoid that as much as possible. Surgical theatre capacity, staff, paediatric ICU beds are all part of the solution.

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