Further to Parliamentary Question No. 156 of 29th April 2021, the issue of additional capacity raised by the Deputy was referred to the HSE for direct reply. My Department understands that Ireland East Hospital Group issued a response to the Deputy on 3rd May 2021 in relation to this query.
In relation to a further update on the matter, as this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.