Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Tánaiste to provide a minor injuries unit on the grounds of Merlin Park University Hospital. There are 11 such units throughout the country in major urban cities. University Hospital Galway services the west. At one point the Tánaiste said there were no plans to build a unit, but then he said it would be considered in the report or appraisal that will be carried out.

It is time to get off the pot and provide one of these units for Galway. The emergency department in UHG is one of the worst in the country. Week after week it has the greatest number of people on trolleys, and the Government is doing nothing about it. The Government says it will build a new emergency department. That has been going on since I got elected to the Dáil in 2002 and still it is not being built. The Government is talking about the proposal to build a new hospital in Merlin Park. I will be dead and buried before that happens. Let us be honest and fair about that.

All I am asking is for a minor injuries unit. These units work successfully. I visited the unit in Roscommon and I was impressed with it. I call on the Tánaiste to give a firm commitment now that a minor injuries unit will be built on the ground of Merlin Park University Hospital without delay. The buildings are in place. It is only a matter of kitting out one of the units and putting in place two consultants and several nurses. We could take 60% of the people attending the accident and emergency unit in University Hospital Galway. I call on the Tánaiste to give a commitment that the Government will provide a unit for Galway. Why should Galway be different from any other major city in the country?

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