I have raised the issue before of an independent review of University Limerick Hospitals Group, which includes the most consistently overcrowded hospital in the country. The Taoiseach agreed the proposal had some merit and would be considered but I have not heard back about it. Since then, an expert team has been sent in by the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, to ease overcrowding. I assume that expert team is firefighting, just like management there, in terms of the day-to-day issues of trying to treat people rather than taking a strategic view of what is required into the future. The issue is particularly so now that the elective hospital that was proposed by some of the Government's backbenchers as a possible solution has been ruled out by the Minister. Will the Taoiseach appoint somebody or have an expert review commissioned to take a strategic view of what can be done to ease overcrowding, including, if necessary, the upgrading of one of the other hospitals in the area or an increase in their workload? The current situation is unsustainable.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. To cut to the chase, the expert team will not just be about firefighting. Its purpose is to look at the entire management process and what is going on within the hospitals. There was a very good article by Paul Cullen in The Irish Times yesterday about how some hospitals have developed systems that are getting better outcomes than others. He instanced St. Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny as a very good example. With different systems and mechanisms, one can get better outcomes, especially working in the context of a hospital group.