Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Every time I announce a visit to a hospital, I always hear it alleged that patients were moved out or on so they could not be seen. That is not waffle. I will visit Galway hospital and do so in my own time when I choose to do so. I will be very happy to engage with the nurses and the staff.

A number of significant projects have been completed at University Hospital Galway in recent years. These include the clinical research facility, the upgrade to the maternity unit and the cystic fibrosis outpatient department, which was completed in 2014 and is now operational. Thirty additional beds were opened in early 2016 as part of the Minister's winter initiative for 2015-16.

The Programme for a Partnership Government states a new emergency department for University Hospital Galway is currently being designed with a view to funding for construction being provided as part of the 2017 capital plan review. As it stands and as the Deputy is well aware, a number of design plans have been completed and they are at the cost-benefit analysis stage in the HSE. The Minister will visit the hospital shortly and further update staff and the management.

Construction of a 75-bed clinical ward block, with additional capacity, is under way. This project will provide 75 single en suitebedrooms, including six isolation rooms, which will result in a significant improvement in bed quality and infection control within University Hospital Galway. The projected date for the completion of construction is the end of this month, 2016, followed by commissioning and equipping. The Department understands that once this development is completed, it will enable other wards at University Hospital Galway to be closed for refurbishment, and approval is being sought to keep one of the old wards open in an escalation capacity for approximately 30 beds to support hospital activity this winter. That is being considered by the HSE as part of the service plan estimates for 2017 and also as part of its winter planning submission.

The Deputy says there is a need for a new hospital. The population of Galway and the region, which now caters for the greater expanded region, is an issue that certainly warrants consideration for the time ahead.

It seems as if some people imagine, or some people perceive, that one can provide a new hospital overnight. Such is not the case.

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