Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am aware that Galway is the specialist tertiary centre for a significant swathe of the country. Waiting lists in Galway are comparatively worse than in other parts of the country, but there has been a lot of investment in recent years. There is now more than 4,000 staff between University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital; that is a 12% increase since this Government was formed. The budget for both hospitals is now more than €400 million, which is a 10% increase since this Government was formed. Construction of a temporary emergency department is under way, which should be completed later this year. The building of a new radiation oncology unit is also under way. We are very keen to get the new emergency department, and the new maternity and paediatric units, into planning as soon as possible. I have spoken directly to the CEO of the HSE about this in the past couple of weeks. I share the enormous frustration that the project is progressing so slowly. I will take a personal interest in it.

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