Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is proposed to be provided in the cancer care centre on the grounds of University Hospital Galway. What University Hospital Galway has told us is that the current inpatient bed numbers of 683 are not sufficient to deal with the demands. However, we are providing two additional acute beds for the winter. I know last year they told us there was physically no space to put any bed anywhere, which I find hard to believe but that is what we are told. What can be offered from the HSE with regard to support around fast-tracking developments required in University Hospital Galway? There are four areas that Saolta hospital group is pushing. One of these is the emergency department plus maternity and pediatrics, which is with the Department in respect of the strategic assessment report, SAR, and the preliminary business case. There are the elective hospital plans in Merlin Park and the cancer care, which is to do with the 222 absolutely critical beds. There also are the new labs that are required. The winter plan is fine but this is the bigger picture of what is needed to ensure we will not be talking about additional capacity or the need for it. Those are the things we need to push as part of the winter plan.