Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A project cannot move on from that gate to the preliminary business case stage. Given that the Minister for Health has stated in a letter that the strategic assessment report is still due, the HSE is presumably confused in what information it is giving Ministers. I do not know where the fault lies, but this is confusing. We received the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath’s response, for which I thank him. We have worked through all of the information we have, but trying to make sense of it has been difficult.

The Minister has outlined the practices that are in place to protect public money, which I welcome. A new accident and emergency unit will be built in Galway at some point for more than €500 million. In the meantime, we are building a temporary accident and emergency unit for €15 million or €16 million. Somewhere in cyberspace are the results of the options appraisal that was completed a few years ago regarding a brand new hospital in Merlin Park. At what stage does the Minister’s Department examine what is happening with this higgledy-piggledy development of a serious piece of infrastructure? The focus should be on a brand new hospital, particularly given that the new accident and emergency unit will cost more than €500 million.

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