Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I join in conveying sympathies to all the families, particularly those in west Cork, which suffered loss in recent days. I pay tribute to the emergency services who responded so quickly; that is a tribute to their commitment to the job. In response to the health question, there is no proposal to close 900 public beds. There is a proposal regarding efficiencies in the health service. Over the past 12 months, 1,250 extra people have been included in the fair deal scheme, which must be acknowledged. I remind colleagues across the floor that €400 million was paid for people who were charged because a proper structure was not put in place for the collection of nursing home charges; that was supervised by previous Governments over 14 years. That €400 million would have been quite handy today to refurbish nursing homes.