Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am familiar with this project. It has taken a long time to get to this stage with regard to site selection. This is an elective-only hospital, which is relatively new in Ireland in terms of structure. We are pushing as hard as we can to get it built as soon as we can. In the meantime, it is important to say that there are multiple projects at big hospital campuses like CUH, for example, that are also progressing at the same time, increasing capacity. We are seeing the kind of increases in staff numbers and bed capacity that we are seeing in other parts of the country in Cork and Kerry as well. That does not mean that we are not going to see pressure points at different times; of course we are. However, ultimately the capacity gap that is there and needs Government resources is getting a response from Government. As populations grow and as the age profile gets older, we will continue to invest heavily in Cork and other parts of the country.

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