Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, for years the INMO has been calling for an extra 5,000 beds, and we are adding nearly 5,000 beds. I did not see the glowing press release from the INMO welcoming all of this, but its members and doctors across the country whom I talk to are very happy with the new beds plan, partly because of the scale of it. It is beyond what people were expecting. People are expecting about 1,500 beds and it is 3,500. Also, we have done this on a regionally balanced basis. In the mid-west, for example, where UHL is, when this Government came to office, the region had the lowest number of beds per head of population of any region. With this plan, it will have the second highest number, so it is much more balanced. The regional inequalities we have seen around the country, particularly on the west coast, from Kerry to Cork and Limerick right up to Letterkenny in Donegal, are all being addressed through this plan. I repeat that we need beds and capacity but reform and increased productivity are also required.

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