Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I wish to share time with Deputy Penrose.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important issue. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to the House but I am disappointed, as are the people of Westmeath, that the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children is not present to reply to the debate. When she recently opened and closed a 12 bed unit in Mullingar hospital on the same day, she asked why I had not turned up at the opening to discuss the matter with her. My retort was that I would raise the matter in the people's forum, the Dáil. As my colleague and myself raise this issue, the Tánaiste feels free not to turn up to reply to the debate.

She stated in Mullingar a few weeks ago that she should make an announcement on the future of the hospital. Why is she not present to put on record her future plans for the hospital? What has happened there is an absolute disgrace. Phase 2a of the hospital was built in 1997 at a cost of approximately €10 million to the taxpayer. A five storey block was built but only one storey was kitted out with the remaining four storeys like warehouses, empty waiting to be occupied. Eight years later no detailed plans on how these floors will be kitted out have been prepared, no planning permission has been sought, no funds have been allocated and no timeframe has been set within which the extra work will be completed. The extra beds so long promised and so badly needed are not provided. We have been told on various occasions that the money for phase 2b of the hospital was ring-fenced and that, if Deputy Cassidy, who is not here to take part in tonight's debate, were elected to this House, in his words "immediate progress" would be made regarding Mullingar General Hospital. However, nothing has happened. Deputy Cassidy announced in April 2003 a 12-bed unit for the hospital. The Tánaiste had the brass neck to come to Mullingar to open it two or three weeks ago. As she left the hospital, the locks were turned again on the door of the unit that she had just opened. It will not be open for a few more weeks. What kind of carry-on is that? A Minister comes to open a facility, and as she leaves, the doors are locked behind her. Is that an opening? It is good for publicity and the television cameras and so on, but it is not good enough for the people of Westmeath.

The Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, answered a debate tabled by Deputy Penrose and me in October 2003, 18 months ago. During that debate, he said the Department was finalising the development control plan for phase 2b. I sincerely hope the Minister does not have that same phrase tucked into the speech he is to read us tonight. I hope he will not have the brass neck to issue to us tonight, 18 months later, what we got then. I want to hear what definite progress has been made, when we will be treated fairly in Mullingar, and when we will hear the real story regarding finalisation of this hospital.

Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Paul McGrath for sharing time with me. He and I have fought manfully on the floor of the House to try to ensure that the rightful property of the people of Longford and Westmeath, Mullingar General Hospital, will be delivered. It is a shame this Government has been pussyfooting around, foot-dragging and obfuscating for the past eight years. It is scandalous to see a building with people lying in beds with an occupancy rate of 130% overlooking a building, as Deputy Paul McGrath has said, with four floors uncompleted, some of it almost dilapidated. It has been there for eight years, turning grey while people look out the windows.

We have the second most efficient hospital in the country, and if this were delivered, we would have the most efficient. That is a compliment to the professionals, nurses, attendants and ambulance staff — everyone involved. They are asking what the timeframe is, when the money is to be provided, and when the hospital is to be finished. It is serving the people of Longford and Westmeath, and the commitment was given back in the 1980s when Longford did not have the services. It is time to get off the fence and fulfil the commitment. What has happened is disgraceful. It is a scandal, and it is about time that the Government got its priorities right.

Mullingar General Hospital needs 311 beds but has only 203. The occupancy rate is 130% in winter. It is disgraceful that we can waste €52 million on electronic voting when another €20 million would have completed the hospital. Can anyone explain this? The Tánaiste opened the new unit, and neither Deputy Paul McGrath nor I attended — rightly so, since it was a charade. It was an opportunity for photographs, with people straining their necks at the optimum angle to be recorded in the local newspapers. That type of cynicism has destroyed politics, and the people of Westmeath together with the people of Longford which may be included in the new constituency, have sent us here tonight. They are saying to us that we must get the hospital delivered, since they have been let down by the Government. It is an absolute scandal.

The Government should forget all its obfuscation and tell us when it will provide the money and why it has taken so long. They could have built the Great Wall of China in eight years, yet we cannot complete a hospital in Mullingar. Every time we attend a meeting, the public asks us when it will be delivered. I tell them that Deputy Cassidy promised upon his election in 2002 that he would be like a magician, arriving in a helicopter with schools and hospitals. Three years later, we are still waiting. Now the Minister should get off the fence. The people of Longford and Westmeath want Mullingar General Hospital finished once and for all for the general population who pay their taxes. We are fed up being treated like second-class citizens.

Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including its capital programme. The progression of phase 2b of the Midland Regional Hospital must be considered in that context.

The necessary funds to progress phase 2b form part of the funding provided to the HSE in the capital envelope of the capital investment framework for 2005 to 2009. The hospital is being developed in phases. Phase 1 was completed in 1989 and phase 2a in 1997, at a cost of €13 million.

Phase 2a included "shelled-out"— external walls, floors and roof — accommodation for completion, or "fit-out", in phase 2b, the final phase of the current redevelopment programme, which is at the design stage.

The "shelled-out" accommodation is on four floors over the existing radiology department and a single floor over the existing entrance concourse. It was provided for future ward accommodation and an operating department. The accommodation was provided as part of the phase 2a contract as a long-term, value-for-money construction solution, which will minimise disruption to existing functioning accommodation during the phase 2b construction works contract.

The Department approved the Midland Health Board's stage 2 submission — development control plan — proceeding to stage 3 — sketch design and cost plan — for phase 2b in September 2004. It is anticipated that stage 3 will be complete in mid 2005. Phase 2b includes the fit-out of the "shelled" accommodation, together with additional accommodation to provide a pathology department, an operating department, general medical wards, a medicine for the elderly and rehabilitation unit, general surgical wards, day services, including surgery, administration accommodation, staff accommodation, an acute psychiatric unit, a child and adolescent psychiatric unit, an occupational therapy department, catering facilities, educational facilities and a new entrance concourse.

The executive is currently finalising its proposals under the CIF in line with the procedures set down by the Department of Finance. That process will be completed in the coming weeks. However, the Tánaiste is aware that the procurement priority for phase 2b has always been the fit-out of the "shelled-out" ward accommodation, as the first stage, to provide additional beds, and it is anticipated that this stage will be complete in late 2006.

The delivery of the balance of phase 2b following the first-stage fit-out mentioned is also being considered by the HSE in the context of determining capital priorities to be progressed in 2005 and beyond, in line with overall funding resources available.