Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1195. To ask the Minister for Health the details of all of the increased bed and ICU capacity delivered since March 2020; the number of additional healthcare staff employed by the HSE since 2020; the efforts made to reduce pressure on bed capacity facing winter 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42074/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Winter Plan 2020/2021 and Budget 2021 provided €236 million in revenue and €40 million in capital expenditure for additional beds on a permanent basis in our acute hospitals. This will add 1,146 general acute beds to the hospital system over the number available on 1 January 2020. To date, 834 of these acute beds and 73 additional sub-acute beds have been provided under the Winter Plan. Delivery of additional beds and other measures in the Winter Plan is dependent on recruitment of appropriate staff, procurement of IT systems, delivery of physical infrastructure, developing new integrated ways of working and appropriate leadership and governance arrangements.

At the start of last year, permanent adult critical care capacity in Ireland stood at 255 beds, according to the National Office of Clinical Audit. Funding for a further 40 adult critical care beds was provided on a temporary basis in March 2020 as part of the response to Covid-19 in March 2020.

A Strategic Plan for Critical Care was noted by Government in December 2020. This Plan aims to increase capacity to 321 by end-2021 and to 446 in the longer term. Funding of €52m provided for 2021 will see the 40 beds provided in 2020 retained permanently and a further 26 added, to bring permanent baseline capacity to 321 by the end of 2021. The HSE has advised that 41 of these 66 beds are now in place, with the number open on any particular day fluctuating as a result of a variety of factors.

Budget 2021 provided funding for a large increase in the number of healthcare staff employed in the public health service. From the end of 2020 to the end of July 2021, there has been an increase of 4,361 whole-time equivalent healthcare staff, with the largest growth in Nursing and Midwifery (+1,343 WTE). There will be further growth this year, and Budget 2022 will set out the affordable recruitment numbers for 2022 in order to continue to adequately staff the health service.

As the questions raised by the Deputy relate to operational matters, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly with the details requested.