Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Specifically on the position in Galway, I do not have the official figures, but the most recent figures from the INMO showed that there were 480 patients on trolleys at some point during November in University Hospital Galway, down from 536 in the same month last year. The additional beds in Merlin Park University Hospital probably helped in that regard. More is being done. Up to 30 beds will be provided in the old physio and social work department which is under construction. I am hoping it will be opened in December. If not, it will be opened in the new year. The new 75-bed block is under construction and will mainly consist of individual beds in individual rooms, providing for a much more modern standard of hospital accommodation. It will be completed in 2017. It is intended to proceed to planning and design stage for the new emergency department in 2016. As I said, even if there was no overcrowding in the emergency department in Galway, the facility is out of date and needs to be replaced and modernised.

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