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

I want to move on to the issue of the timeframe for the elective hospital.

As I have raised with the Minister, Bons Secours is building a new hospital in Limerick which will take 23 months from start to finish. In fairness to both Mercy University Hospital and Cork University Hospital, CUH, the staff are working under enormous pressure. There is also the issue of trying to get people out of hospital and trying to get step-down facilities in place. There is also the question of the new elective hospitals to avoid waiting lists getting longer.