Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for bringing absolute clarity to this situation first-hand in the House. It is also reassuring to hear of the positive developments happening at Ennis Hospital. The retention of seven-day MAU services is important as the more patients who can be diverted from University Hospital Limerick, the better.

Notwithstanding the opening of a new €25 million state-of-the-art emergency department in University Hospital Limerick, there is an issue with bed capacity in the mid-west which is compounding the trolley crisis in University Hospital Limerick. The Minister is aware of the proposal to provide 96 additional acute beds in the hospital which has been submitted to the Department. Will this proposal be included in the capital plan to be published tomorrow? Will the Minister give us a sneak preview of it?

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