This week there was announcement in Cork by a company that it intends to carry out a €350 million development in the docklands area. Part of that development comprises a 130-bed rehabilitation hospital. We have been looking for an elective hospital in Cork for a number of years and we still have not identified a site for that hospital. This year, we have 200 fewer beds available in the Cork and Kerry region for hospital care as a result of the number of beds being reduced due to Covid-19. Is the Health Service Executive prepared to enter into negotiations with the private developer about identifying a site for this elective hospital? Will it design, build and finance it, with the State buying it back over 25 years? I am asking that this would be given priority.

I read about that development in the news the other day. It is really encouraging to see regeneration and redevelopment of the Cork docklands coming to life. I do not know enough about the development or who the developer is so I do not particularly want to get into discussions on whether the Government should engage with the developer in question. We are very keen to see elective hospitals up and running in Cork, Galway and Dublin as soon as possible. I am not taking an ideological approach to this at all and if it is the case that we can deliver it quicker through a private partnership than the traditional HSE route, I am open to that. It is really a matter for the Minister for Health.