Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is a frustration. We have seen an unprecedented expansion in capacity. There are nearly 21,000 extra people and 1,000 extra beds, with another 500 on the way. We are progressing new hospitals. There are new operating theatres and outpatient departments. We have built an entirely new community care service in the past two years. What we are seeing here is reflected in what other countries around Europe, and further afield, are seeing. We have an aging and growing population, as the Deputy is aware. There is extra demand as a result of Covid that is difficult to quantify. One of the things the HSE is doing in preparation for the urgent care plan is to understand as well as possible why so many extra people are coming in. Who are they and what can be done? I will give the Deputy one example from the Mater hospital, the emergency department of which I was in recently.

The emergency department team said they have a lot of patients undergoing cancer treatment coming in - they are getting quite sick during treatment. The solution to that is not to bulk up the emergency department; it is to make sure they have direct access to the oncology services. That is the kind of work that is going on to address exactly the questions the Deputy is raising.

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