We are more than a year into the new health strategy and we have seen little that benefits people. This is particularly so in Carlow, the only county in Ireland with no hospital. The town of Carlow is constantly growing but it has been neglected. There are poor step-down convalescent facilities there. The town has been waiting more than six years for a ten bed extension to the district hospital, which I discussed with the Minister yesterday, and it has also been waiting for a 13 bed extension to the Sacred Heart hospital for many years. This is unfair to families in Carlow who must travel 50 miles to a hospital in Dublin or Waterford to visit relations and endure the stress and trauma this causes. Even when their relatives are recuperating, they must continue to travel long distances. People in Carlow are realistic. They realise there cannot be a hospital in every town and village, but they do expect to have step-down convalescent facilities. They are entitled them.