The provision of private care in public acute hospitals is long standing feature of the Irish health care system. Some 2,500 beds in public hospitals are designated as private and semi-private. The 80:20 ratio to which the Deputy refers is an average across the entire acute system. The percentage of beds designated as private varies between individual hospitals; for example, there is a higher ratio of private beds in maternity and paediatric hospitals and a lower ratio in other hospitals.
I am concerned that there are instances where the ratio of private work has far exceeded the stated bed designation. This is a matter which is central to this Government's reform programme, in particular, in relation to a new hospital consultants' contract.
The day-to-day management of the public/private mix in acute hospitals is the statutory responsibility of the Health Service Executive. Accordingly, I have requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter raised by the Deputy investigated and to reply directly to the Deputy.