Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach visited Tipperary university hospital, TUH, in Clonmel some weeks ago to open a new modular unit. He was taken on a tour of the hospital. Like many hospitals across the country, it is under huge pressure. When I visited it last Friday evening, it was at 111% capacity. When the Taoiseach was there three weeks ago, they put plans for the St. Michael's unit before him. With that they could provide 33 extra beds at a very reasonable cost, which they envisage as one third of the cost of normal infrastructure. Depending on rising building costs, these 33 beds could be provided at a cost of between €7 and €9 million. The Taoiseach told hospital management that day that it was low-hanging fruit that needs to be delivered by the HSE. Have we made progress on getting these extra 33 beds for TUH? Will he give the House a progress report?

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