Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for providing a completion date of mid-2018 for the appraisal. I also appreciate that he did not sidetrack from my question. I asked him not to do so because of the urgency involved. The Minister's party colleague in the Galway West constituency clarified through a question to the Minister that the hospital finds itself in the wrong position and unable to cope.

Today, I attended a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts attended by representatives of the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA. I read some of the authority's reports on University Hospital Galway, one of which states, "The infrastructure and the design of the Paediatric Ward was outdated and as such had the potential to impact on effective infection control." The accident and emergency department has reached crisis point, while two theatres have been closed at Merlin Park Hospital as a result of a leak in a roof, an issue I will raise later in the Topical Issues debate. I could go on. The Government clearly has a role in this matter given the substantial capital outlay involved in building a new hospital. There are 150 acres available on the Merlin Park site. Higgledy-piggledy development is no longer acceptable because it was this approach that caused the crisis in University Hospital Galway. We want proper planning in Merlin Park rather than piecemeal development.

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