Will the Leader schedule a debate on the fair deal scheme and the availability of beds under the nursing homes support scheme, which was put in place a number of years ago? Figures released by the Health Service Executive, HSE, to Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, the Sinn Féin spokesperson on health, show that from 2009, when there were 7,850 fair deal beds, the number had dropped to 5,290 in December 2014. When the figures are broken down on a constituency basis, many counties have seen a very significant drop in the availability of beds under the scheme. Obviously, there is a problem and I ask that the Minister for Health be invited to come to the House to discuss it. There is also the situation of over 400,000 people waiting on hospital waiting lists. Many are waiting well over 12 months, even though the Government promised that outpatients would be seen in less than 12 months. One can see that some departments in hospitals across the State are worse than others, but the figures released recently by the HSE show that a significant number of people are waiting longer than the 12 months that was promised by the Government. I would appreciate it if the Leader arranged for the Minister for Health to come to the House to hear statements on these important matters.

To reply to the previous speaker, there are 22,000 fair deal beds, not 7,000. The Senator's information is totally incorrect.

I received it from the HSE. I will give it to the Senator.

I can give the Senator the reply. There are 22,000 beds and it is costing €970 million per year. They are the figures. As the Senator has incorrect figures, he should check them. That is the first point.

Second, with regard to the fair deal scheme, it is interesting to note that the scheme involves 80% of people's income and 7.5% of people's assets, to a maximum cap of three years. My understanding is the amount of money recovered from estates - the fair deal scheme has been up and running since 2009 - is approximately €7.5 million over a 12 month period. That is €7.5 million recovered out of a total of €970 million spent. I refer to assets, not income. The issue that must be raised is the level of security the HSE is putting in place in recovering that part of the funding under the scheme.

The other issue I wish to raise relates to the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, agreement with the Department.

I welcome the agreement and think it is the first step in the reform of the health system insofar as it concerns GPs. It is a welcome development. GPs make a huge contribution to health care, but we need to take another step. A pilot study that was recently carried out on accident and emergency units indicated that 30% of people who had attended over the weekend could have been adequately treated by GPs rather than attending the accident and emergency unit. The Department and HSE should examine how to work with GPs to ensure more people attend their clinics rather than accident and emergency units. There were over 1.1 million attendances at accident and emergency units last year and we must work to reduce pressure on the hospital service. One way of doing so is to work closely with GPs, an issue we could deal with in a debate on the next occasion the Minister is in the Chamber. It is an issue to which we should give serious consideration.