On Monday, the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, opened a new, 50-bed rehabilitation unit in Tower and Blarney in my constituency. A total of 30 beds are geriatric rehabilitation beds, while there are 20 neurosurgery rehabilitation beds. The whole idea behind the geriatric rehabilitation beds is that the person will be in unit for between 30 and 35 days going through rehabilitation, rather than being inside in a hospital where they would not have access to the same level of treatment. Will the Government identify sites around the country to develop and build these rehabilitation and step-down facilities so that we can free up hospital beds? Will a programme be put in place? This is an innovative way of trying to get people out of hospitals faster. At the same time, it will ensure that, when people go home, they have gone through a full rehabilitation programme and are ready and fit to go back to their homes and get suitable support thereafter.

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