Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What I am telling the Deputy is that I expect an options appraisal paper by mid-2018, if not earlier. I would welcome the paper as soon as the Saolta group has completed it. The paper will indicate to the Government, Oireachtas and HSE how the group would like to develop its services. It is not for me to tell it how it should develop its services. What is the point in having a group and people in positions to manage the service if I try to micro-manage services? I have given the group the go-ahead in terms of funding to produce an options appraisal. If that plan is delivered to me, I assure the Deputy that the Government and I, as Minister, will support proper planned development of health services in Galway.

As the Deputy will be aware, the original emergency department at University Hospital Galway was constructed in the 1950s and upgraded in the late 1990s. The department accommodates more than 62,000 attendances per annum and sees 130 patients on a weekend and approximately 270 patients every day during the working week. We need proper planning in this area. The position in Galway is a microcosm of the broader challenges we face in terms of proper, long-term planning. I look forward to receiving the options appraisal from the Saolta group, acting upon it and liaising with Oireachtas Members from Galway.

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