There were quite a lot more than 19 in question. However, I have answered that point. As I said, Dr. Henry wrote back to the Department. I am making the point, because it was not made yesterday, that it was NPHET which requested HIQA to carry out that risk assessment. I think that is an important piece of information.

It is accurate.

I wish to be really clear because the Deputy and I may be at cross purposes and we may both be right. On 31 March-----

----the NPHET minutes show - these are all published - that HIQA was asked by NPHET to risk assess all nursing homes.

The Deputy is correct. It is a long-known fact - indeed, the Sláintecare plan speaks very much to this - that there is a lack of integration between our nursing homes, be they public or private, and the HSE in general. I am not sure GPs and others would fully accept the view that there is no clinical involvement or governance, but I do think it is a shortcoming in relation to the long-term residential care setting in Ireland and it is something that needs to be addressed.

When one is Minister for Health one is criticised probably ten times before breakfast, and often correctly, so I am not afraid of criticism in this regard. It has not been brought to the Government. It has been brought to a Cabinet committee but it has not been approved by the Government. Frankly, I find it hard to mount an argument to what the Deputy said. I will give a commitment to revert to the Deputy by the end of this week and see if it is possible to bring it to the Government, as I will have to get permissi…

The commentary about my colleagues is the Deputy's view. The substantive issue about the 67 inspectors is important. The Deputy is right that 67 is not an adequate number with the volume of work that we need the HSA to do. I am pleased to let the Deputy know that my Department will provide approximately 200 environmental health officers to supplement the HSA's work. We will make sure that they work with the HSA to incorporate compliance with the protocol in its usual programmed inspection activities. The environmen…

The 200 environmental health officers, or inspectors, will all carry out on-the-ground inspection activities. They will do so as part of their usual programmed inspections. Environmental health officers already do that and we are basically saying that they already have a remit for a significant number of businesses, with 45,000 food businesses in the country, and telling them to inspect sites under the Return to Work Safely Protocol.

I will arrange for someone in the Department to liaise with the Deputies from the south east. We had quite a good arrangement during the last Dáil, when we were all allowed to meet in person, and I am eager to keep it up, whereby local representatives are brought together to provide us with the benefit of local knowledge and local connections to get this project moving. I want to see the delivery of the cath lab. I note the new timelines referred to by the Deputy. Contractor selection is under way, the tender will …

I have had no time to respond to the Deputy.

It is a question-and-answer session so I would appreciate-----

The people want-----

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter and for being honest and truthful. I share the view that there was no alternative option, when we were looking at what was happening in other countries, other than to ensure we had every possible bed, ventilator and ICU bed. That is what everybody in the House was rightly questioning at the time and, thank God, we secured that capacity and, even better, did not have to use it all. That is a sign of success. I share the Deputy's concern that this cannot be about i…

I thank the Deputy. The up-to-date figures I have for the Bon Secours Hospital Galway are for an inpatient bed occupancy of 48% on the week of 11 May to 15 May. That dropped to 41% on 18 May to 22 May. The Galway Clinic figures show 15% for 11 May to 15 May, and this increased to 26%. I get the point that there are challenges and difficulties. However, I still believe it was absolutely the right thing to do. I get the point that we need to finesse it and get the best possible arrangement in using all of the facilit…

It is not.

It was the right deal.

The Deputy would be the first in this House to criticise me, rightly, if we did not have available bed capacity if a Covid surge came. We need to get the best arrangement. As the facts change, we need to alter that. We are, however, going to need to keep some of that private capacity to help public patients. Otherwise the public health service will not be able to function in a Covid environment.

Can I make a point?

Can I ask-----

May I reply to the Deputy?