Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I agree with the Deputy. It is my intention to do that, along with expanding surgical capacity more broadly in the north west, which we will speak about further. I agree about the need for an innovative approach. Already, some measures have been put in place in that regard. I want to see the immediate issues resolved very quickly in order that the surgeons are not dealing with them going into the autumn this year. There should be no excuse in that regard. I agree with the Deputy about what needs to happen over the medium and longer term.

I go back to the question we are all going to face regarding the infrastructure guidelines, how we deliver major capital projects, the length of time they take and the number of stages involved. It is a question of coming to the best way of proceeding whereby we get multiple bidders for these major infrastructure projects and have a competitive process that will deliver the right outcomes. In my time in the north west ten days to two weeks ago, across Leitrim, Sligo and Donegal, while I saw significant capacity and additional beds through community nursing homes, chronic disease management centres, community virtual wards and so on, there is a substantial body of work to do.

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