Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A clear example of that is the gynaecological services in Cork where there were 4,500 people on the waiting list. The consultants had a difficulty opening the operating theatre in the Cork University Hospital maternity unit and ended up renting space in the Mater Private Hospital. The consultants moved down to the Mater Private Hospital to deal with public patients, mainly for day procedures. They cleared a large part of the backlog. What needs to be done to open up theatres in public hospitals? The facilities are there. I am aware of one hospital where the theatre has been in place for more than ten years and has yet to be opened.

While it is fine to say we are allocating money for capital projects, in January 2021 funding was provided for two new operating theatres to be built in a particular facility. The work was to start in March at the latest. The contracts were not signed until November. The theatre, which was expected to open in September 2021, will be delayed by between 12 and 14 months and it is now expected that it will not be open until November 2022. Surely something must be done about the roll-out of projects. Why is there such a delay in getting projects up and running once funding has been allocated?