David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a separate issue with the Minister, and it is one close to my own heart, to pardon the pun, in Waterford, namely, the cardiac care issue. I have not had the chance to raise the issue with the Minister as a member of the committee, but I have done so on two occasions on the floor of the Dáil.

When I looked at this issue, it struck me that the plan to add a second cath lab was signed off on in 2018, and we are now in late 2020. It is a case study of how long it takes for a capital project from conception to delivery, and for the lab to be opened. We are now being told that it will be 2012, if not 2022, before it is open and operational. There was a private hospital in Waterford, which, from conception to delivery, built a cath lab in six months, and we are still waiting for the public one. That is because of the procurement process and the very complicated stages that a project has to go through. In my view, it is very similar to the delivery of housing projects, where there is a four-stage process which complicates delivery. I ask the Minister to have a look at that process. Second, the primary issue and the bigger issue for the people of Waterford is not just that second cath lab, but 24-7 emergency cardiac care. Is that something to which the Minister is still committed, and how is that going to be delivered? We are up against time restrictions, so I will ask my final question to give the Minister time to respond. It is on the issue of beds. I think there was a bit of spin in the Minister's budget when when he stated that 1,145 additional beds would be provided. That figure relates to the 2019 baseline and not that of 2020.