Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to discuss Cappagh hospital and orthopaedics. I acknowledge my colleagues, Deputies Brendan Smith, Cahill and McAuliffe, who brought me to Cappagh hospital and gave me the opportunity to see at first hand what the Deputy has articulated to me. The Deputies also gave me the opportunity to meet the mother of the Deputy's young constituent, and I also met one of Deputy Cahill's constituents.

Deputy McNamara is right. It is not until one comes face to face with a parent who can very clearly outline the exact impact this has on the development of the child and his or her opportunity of attending school that one fully appreciates it. It prevents the child from being equal with his or her peers, whether in the community or just in the course of the ordinary accessing of services. What I discovered from Cappagh hospital was the opportunity to progress and have development.

In speaking about Cappagh hospital, it would be remiss of me not to reference Mr. Connor Green and the phenomenal work he has done with the tools at his disposal to work between the various hospitals. When I was out at Cappagh hospital, I visited Cappagh Kids. We in this House may talk about separate rooms and isolation and everything else, but that is not what is afforded to the patients in Cappagh Kids. Those involved in that initiative actually provided space to be able to carry out those surgeries.

It is my understanding that in 2021 €1.64 million was provided to Cappagh hospital under the access to care plan to assist with some of those who have been waiting for a long time. I know the hospital has an application in this year for €2.6 million to address that as well. It may be the case that some departmental officials and others need to understand how Cappagh hospital works. It does not have enough high-dependency units to drill down and do more of those surgeries. The ask of the hospital is that it would be supported with €88 million to provide two extra theatres and nine high-dependency beds. By having those sorts of beds, the hospital could become the centre of excellence for orthopaedic surgery not just in the Ireland East Hospital Group, but a centre of excellence in delivery for all of Ireland because we have some of the best physicians there. That also supports hospitals such as those at Temple Street and Crumlin, as well as Children's Health Ireland.

While votes were taking place in the Dáil earlier, I spoke to the Minister for Health and asked him to accompany us on a visit to Cappagh Hospital to see it first hand and to see Cappagh Kids in operation. He would meet Mr. Green and the clinical team there to understand why the hospital should be a stand-alone elective hospital for orthopaedics and a centre of excellence on the east coast. I plead with the HSE, in the context of its capital plan and the applications it is sending in, that while consideration is being given hospitals in Cork and Galway, when Dublin is being considered, perhaps there is a need for Cappagh hospital to be a centre of excellence in orthopaedic care on the east coast. It is structurally located near an exit off a main motorway and there is access land, so even if a modular unit is not going to be built straight away, it could be converted. It is important to acknowledge the recruitment challenges within the HSE.

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