Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me to participate in the committee's meeting. I have one or two questions to direct to Mr. Woods. Specifically, this is about University Hospital Limerick's accident and emergency department and, more particularly, proceeding to build a 96-bed acute unit on the grounds of the hospital. In 2009, reconfiguration took place. There is context around the need to provide these beds. The report was predicated on 138 co-location beds being built on the University Hospital Limerick site but the co-location project never proceeded. At the same time, Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's closed their full-time accident and emergency departments and 50 beds left those hospitals at that time. We have a bed capacity crisis with significant numbers on trolleys. It is a continual problem. If this 96-bed acute unit were built, it would take a lot of the pressure off when coupled with the new state-of-the-art accident and emergency department going ahead this year and opening by May.

I thank Mr. Woods for giving the go-ahead. I have had discussions with him on the matter over recent weeks and he gave the go-ahead yesterday to allow the design phase for the 96-bed acute unit to proceed. That has been communicated to estates at University Hospital Limerick and to myself as of yesterday. I would like to see this project in Limerick progressed under the capital review. It is included in the HSE's own capital plan. Mr. Woods might just give me the process as he sees it. For me, it is about not losing any more time. That is why I have campaigned so hard to get lift-off, as it were, on the 96-bed acute unit. What I want to know now is when shovels will be on site to start to build the unit. It will be four storeys over the existing dialysis unit which is alongside the new accident and emergency department with approximately 24 beds per floor. Where does Mr. Woods see the process from design to build? What do we need to deal with to ensure it gets built and what is the timeframe?