John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All three are getting new emergency departments. In Kilkenny, over €20 million has been spent on the new emergency department and medical assessment unit, construction of which has been completed. The fitting out is now taking place and an opening should take place in the next number of weeks. While St. Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny is a fantastic facility, the emergency department was built in the 1950s as the laundry of the original hospital. It served a population area encompassing pretty much all of County Carlow, most of County Kilkenny and the surrounding hinterland. That €20 million is to be greatly welcomed.

I also place on record my strong support for the recent announcement of funding for State-run residential facilities and an increase in capital funding for these services. The population has increased by 11% in the past seven or eight years, with the number of people aged 80 years and over increasing by between 35% and 40% during that period. As a result, demand for services has increased in a period in which funding for the health service in general decreased substantially owing to the economic circumstances in which the country found itself. I welcome the decision in the previous budget to increase funding for health for the first time in six or seven years and hope the trend will continue this year.

I concur with Deputy Twomey on the significant step forward taken towards universality in primary care and join him in asking that these steps be continued. One of the most outstanding initiatives taken by this Government and this Minister has been to start the ball rolling on universality.

I also welcome the initiatives on chronic care management raised by the previous speaker. I have personal experience in my family of the operation of these initiatives.

It is proving difficult to attract general practitioners to join rural GP practices. If we are to promote primary care, we must ensure these positions are filled which will mean making the role of the rural general practitioner more desirable.

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