Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

——to treat it as a priority. In January 2007 hospital management submitted an application to the National Hospitals Office for an additional 24.5 full-time posts at a cost of almost €1.5 million. I understand the HSE originally approved €400,000 for additional staffing costs arising from the new unit but agreement has yet to be reached on the details and 16 months later no date has been set for its opening. The unit is needed not only in terms of its capacity to treat an additional 5,000 patients annually but also because of the quality facilities it will make available to patients and staff.

The HSE needs to adopt a proper project planning and management approach. When a major infrastructure project such as a new hospital unit is being planned, the focus cannot be solely on bricks and mortar. Equipping and staffing should also be addressed at the planning stage and agreed before projects commence construction. A similar issue arose previously in Cork in respect of the long-running dispute over the number of midwife posts needed in the new maternity hospital there.

Many positive developments are taking place in health services but stories such as this failure to open the new accident and emergency unit detract from the good work being done. I call on the HSE to ensure the new unit is opened without further delay and to engage with local management on the details of an acceptable agreement. I hope the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children will be able to shed light on this saga so that the facility can be opened in the coming weeks.

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