Some 14 step-down beds are to be removed from the Cottage Hospital in Drogheda. This will leave Ireland's largest town with no transitional care beds whatsoever. On Tuesday, up to 30 staff at the Cottage Hospital were told that their jobs were being unilaterally moved to the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. This move is being justified by the HSE on the basis that there will be a net gain of step-down beds in Louth and Meath by the end of 2026 but I know for a fact that there are no plans at this point to staff those additional beds in a new unit in Ardee. What is actually happening is that the service in the Cottage Hospital is being gutted. Staff are being moved to currently unstaffed beds in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital because management there are simply not allowed to recruit the staff that they can prove they need to staff those new beds.

Does the Tánaiste agree with this robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul strategy? It is unacceptable.

No, I do not. I thank Deputy Nash for raising this issue. I accept the importance of it. I will follow up on the matter with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and the HSE and will ask that they engage with Deputy Nash today on it in the context of seeing what more can be done. I take the point that it is an expansion of capacity that we need. Let me engage further on this with the Deputy today.