As I indicated in my reply to the Deputy on 29 June the HSE has been asked to provide him with validated data on the national average number of acute hospital beds available in 2008 and 2009. I understand that the Executive should be in a position in the very near future to provide the 2008 data following completion of the extensive validation process. Work is also progressing on the compilation and validation of the 2009 data. The HSE has been asked to respond to the Deputy in this regard as soon as this process is completed.