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

I am a big supporter of the Government's plan to build elective hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway to reduce waiting lists. Bearing in mind what Deputy Ó Cuív said earlier, I am realistic and I believe these new elective hospitals will be five or six years in planning, design and building. That is not good enough, so we need interim solutions as well. We already have elective hospitals, for example, Cappagh hospital, the Eye and Ear Hospital, and in Croom, which could potentially do more. There is a very successful surgery hub in Tallaght that has helped to reduce waiting lists dramatically. We need to have a parallel track, including elective hospitals, but it will be close to 2030 before they are up and running, so we need to have other solutions as well.

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