Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept that it requires approval, design and planning, all of the processes that must be gone through, at the end of which a very substantial sum will be invested to replace it. I do not object to the point made by Deputy MIcheál Martin. The facility needs to be replaced, but we cannot replace it over night. As the Deputy is well aware from his own experience in this field, such major pieces of infrastructure need to be planned for the future. The planning regulations, the design of such facilities and the building regulations that apply to the construction of a very modern unit have utterly changed from what they were five or ten years ago. I do not know at what stage the design is at, but I will make it my business to see that the HSE is informed about the matter. I would like to think we could progress the project for people from all over the west who use the facilities of University College Hospital Galway, but as the Deputy is well aware, it is not the only piece of infrastructure that needs to be replaced. If we had had a stronger economy when the Deputy's crowd was firing money left, right and centre, we might now be in a better position, but we have to deal with this challenge also.

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