Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. A number of different things are happening. As the Deputy is aware, Limerick has already been the beneficiary of additional bed capacity and staffing. Another 96-bed unit will be completed shortly. There is also a surgical hub. The Deputy mentioned scheduled procedures being cancelled. Those procedures will be scheduled in the surgical hub and that will be followed by an elective hospital. Limerick is the beneficiary of considerable investment in beds and staff. There are still problems, however, and I thank the Deputy for highlighting them. He is quite right to do so. As he is aware, I have this week placed a particular focus on the deployment of all of the contracts in all of the hospitals to ensure we are getting the best outcomes for patient safety and to ensure that all hospitals are consistently using all the levers available to them to avoid the consistent problems that Limerick has.

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