Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure if there is an understanding or agreement, but there is a commitment in the programme for Government to provide a new emergency department in Beaumont Hospital. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability issues, Deputy Finian McGrath, was particularly active on the issue during the negotiations on A Programme for a Partnership Government. I want to know if that commitment is on track because Beaumont Hospital is 30 years old, there has been no investment in it and there is a crisis every winter in its emergency department, at the height of which there could be 50 patients on trolleys at any one time. A new emergency department is badly needed. The programme for Government states planning will take place towards the end of 2016 with a view to providing funding next year. I hope the Minister of State, working closely with Deputies in Dublin Bay North, will ensure the facility is provided once and for all.

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