A surgical hub is part of the proposed solution to overcrowding and long waiting lists in Limerick. Since Christmas, however, two newly equipped theatres in Ennis have not been used and the highly trained and expert staff who would normally work there are now diverted to general work around the hospital. In circumstances where we have surgical facilities in the mid-west which are not used, it is difficult to see how going to the expense of developing another facility will add to the solution. Will the Taoiseach find out, or does he know, what the problem is and why the existing facilities are so underutilised? The same is true of Nenagh. I am led to believe that it is because of the new protocol and that the staff have been moved to alternative work. I asked what additional resources would be provided because of the protocol last week and await a reply from the Taoiseach. We need to use the facilities we have before we talk about building other ones.

I do not know the reasons for that. I will certainly make inquiries. I agree with the Deputy's point. If we are putting additional elective capacity and theatres into Ennis, Nenagh and Croom, for example, it makes sense to use them rather than building new ones, at least in the first instance. I have heard of similar issues. The surgical hub in Tallaght, for example, has four theatres but only two operating. I am told that it is down to staffing issues, but perhaps there is more to it than that.