Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with my colleague from Cork North-Central with regard to an elective hospital for Cork. The South/South West Hospital Group made a presentation to the HSE more than three years ago. An advertisement was put in place almost 12 months ago now looking for sites to be identified and here we are. Even if we identify a site in the morning, we have to get a design team in to design it, go through a planning process and get contractors in to get the job done.

It is now time to identify the site. I am not aware of any announcement or promises that a site was identified already, but my understanding is the work has been done. Why can we not now take the next step of identifying this site and get on with the planning process?

One of the places that is available to the HSE and where it actually owns the land already is Sarsfieldscourt. It has more than 100 acres where the elective hospital can be built block by block. I seriously believe we are talking about an elective hospital not only for Cork but also for Munster. There is a huge undercapacity in the health service, whether it is in Limerick, Kerry, Waterford or Cork. I ask that this now be given priority.

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