Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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This relates to the removal of the new X-ray room from plans for an extension to the accident and emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. When I raised the matter previously with the Taoiseach on the Order of Business he said he would refer it to the Minister for Health. I have since sent correspondence to the Minister but I have not had a response from either the Taoiseach or the Minister. It is very disappointing that the Minister is not here today. This is my third attempt to raise the matter and it is no wonder our public health service is the way it is when the Minister is not here to respond to a very serious issue.

A few weeks ago the HSE took a decision to remove the X-ray room from plans for an extension to the accident and emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. These plans have been in place for ten years and were costed and included in the tender. The staff had been patiently waiting for almost a decade. The medical personnel, including clinicians, nurses and radiographers - all those who work on the front line - have been crying out for years for a second X-ray room. This was accepted and that is why it was included in the plans. There is only one X-ray room in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and it is operating at or beyond full capacity. The equipment is ten years old and obsolete.

The Minister of State is aware that X-ray is a major diagnostic tool in emergency departments in all hospitals. The only people who will suffer here are patients. Given that the objective of building an extension to an existing accident and emergency department is to cater for higher turnover, how will the department cope without a second X-ray room? I said to the Taoiseach that this is like building a house without a roof. It is sheer madness. I presume the Minister had no act or part in this decision, or at least I hope that is the case. I will take it he did not know about this and it is just another example of HSE senior management lunacy.

Does the Minister intend standing over this unbelievably myopic mindset and the sheer incompetence at HSE senior management level? Is he happy to ignore professional staff on the front line when they have cried out for years for another X-ray room? The facility was included in the plans. Something that has been planned for almost a decade should not be pulled at the 11th hour, as was done three weeks ago.

I will refer to some of the radiology facilities across the State. University Hospital Limerick has two X-ray rooms, as has Cork University Hospital. There are also two at Beaumont Hospital and three at St. Vincent's Hospital. The hospital in Galway has two X-ray rooms, while Tallaght Hospital has two X-ray rooms and a paediatric X-ray facility. The Mater Hospital has two X-ray rooms and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, the second biggest trauma centre in the State according to the chief executive officer of the Ireland East Hospital Group, has one. There is no justification for the removal of this room from the planned extension. I want this decision reversed.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the planned new X-ray facility to support the expanded accident and emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. The Government is committed to making tangible and sustainable improvements in our health services. This includes a major capital development being completed in phases at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. The second phase of this project has already seen 29 ward beds opening in December 2017. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform governs the processes surrounding the development of healthcare projects by way of guidelines, principally the public spending code. Further rigour is demanded by and set out in relevant EU directives. All proposed projects must be submitted to the HSE's capital and property steering committee for approval and prioritisation prior to inclusion in its multi-annual capital plans.

The national development plan announced earlier this year as part of the Project Ireland 2040 policy initiative provides €10.9 billion for health capital developments across the country, including both national programmes and individual projects across acute, primary and social care. Health capital projects and programmes that are under way will continue. With regard to the provision of a second X-ray room as part of this project, my Department has been informed by HSE estates that this development had been discussed with service user groups. However, the second X-ray could not be delivered within the capital allocation for this project and, as such, has not been included in the project brief. An additional computed tomography, CT, scanner is expected to be brought online in early 2019, which will see the hospital equipped with two CT scanners, one MRI scanner, two ultrasound rooms and one plain film room.

I have been advised by the HSE that the new emergency department, which will be located on the ground floor of the hospital, will be completed and available for opening in early 2019. The HSE has further advised that there is some work still to be completed in the old emergency department to allow for the installation of a new paediatric emergency department and an extension to radiology services. The HSE anticipates that the full extension will be ready in early 2019.

Further important capital developments are expected to be completed at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in the near future. These include 29 ward beds, planned to open in January 2019. Further, 24 additional ward beds and a theatre suite, comprising three fully equipped theatre rooms, are due for completion in the second quarter of 2019.

The Department, the HSE, the RCSI hospital group and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital are supportive of this project, and the need for this capital development is recognised in supporting the delivery of key services to patients served by the hospital in Drogheda and the surrounding areas. As the Deputy will be aware, the new emergency department is a part of the major capital infrastructure project that is taking place at the hospital, which includes additional beds, theatres and the expanded emergency department.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That was some response. What it tells us is that the Minister is happy for plans, which have been in place for ten years, for an extension to the emergency department to proceed under his watch without an X-ray room. It is like building a house without a roof. How can the Minister stand over this? The Minister of State's reply was typical HSE spiel. He mentioned the 29 beds. They are welcome, but we already knew about them.

When an emergency department is extended, of course there will be more patients coming to it. Some 80% of patients who attend an emergency department need some sort of X-ray or scan. I have said until I have turned blue in the face that the current X-ray room is working beyond capacity and its equipment is obsolete. The programme for Government calls for capital funding to be invested in our health services, but this is rubbish. The Government is extending an emergency department without installing a badly needed X-ray room that was included and costed in the tender. Why was the money pulled at the last minute and where does patient care come into this? I will not let this go. It is pure and utter madness. I will raise this matter with the Minister again at the next opportunity. It is ludicrous, as it does not put patients first. Everything that is written in the programme for Government is baloney if this is the real action being taken and the Government is prepared to stand over such ludicrousness. It is unbelievable.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I am not sure what to say to the Deputy. She has made her case. Were we to add up the totality of developments that are taking place at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, it would total almost €40 million. If the Deputy believes that is baloney, that is a matter for her.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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No X-ray room in an emergency department. That is baloney.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I did not interrupt the Deputy, so please allow me to continue.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, without interruption.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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It is a significant investment. The Deputy may not be aware, but only a limited pool of resources are available for the developments that all of us seek for our hospitals throughout the country.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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This was costed.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Either I will let the Deputy speak or I will continue speaking, but I will not speak while the Deputy is speaking over me.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Continue.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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We would all like to see many improvements to our local hospital network. We all fight for and champion same. That is the Deputy's right, but she must also respect and acknowledge that the contribution being made to the hospital in Drogheda and the well-being of the patients who use it is significant. It might not provide for everything she wants. That is fine, and it is her entitlement as a public representative for the area to highlight that not everything she wants is being provided for, but she can at least have the good grace and decency to acknowledge the very significant contribution that is being made to the hospital.

We are working within a finite budget and there are limited resources. As much as we would like one, we do not have an endless pot of money from which to give everyone everything he or she needs.