Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

Cavan and Monaghan operate as a single entity with integrated managerial and clinical governance systems, care pathways and support functions. They are 46 km apart from each other. Cavan and Monaghan hospitals currently have two CT scanners and one MRI scanner. Two CT scanners is one more than is available to the people in Mayo, where there is only one CT scanner in Mayo university hospital. There is no business case submitted by Cavan and Monaghan hospital for a CT scanner. The hospital does not have plans to seek additional CT capacity as clear clinical pathways exist to support the region. The replacement to the existing MRI has been approved. Works are expected to be completed by the end of the year. It is clear to me that the number of scans done at Cavan general hospital this year is very considerable and has increased but the opportunity to do more also exists.

Up to 31 May 2025, around 22,000 CT scans took place in Cavan and Monaghan hospital, which is a year to date increase of about 6%. As I look at the operating hours, there are normal working hours of nine to five, two outpatient scanning per week from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 24-hour seven-day-per-week emergency department services provided. There is always a well-acknowledged challenge in respect of radiographers and radiologists but it certainly shows that there is capacity in the existing CT machines with additional staffing and rostering to considerably increase utilisation. A business case has not been submitted by Cavan and Monaghan hospital for a third CT scanner.

I have heard about Monaghan hospital a number of times. It is really important to express how much investment in additional staff have gone in there. The budget has increased by 54% since 2020 and the number of staff in the Monaghan element of the Cavan and Monaghan hospital has increased by 70%, which is an outstandingly large outlier having regard to all of the other hospitals.

See this speech in context