Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Last July, after many months of waiting, the capital programme for major hospitals in the country was announced. For some unknown reason, St. Luke's hospital in Kilkenny received no funding, despite other hospitals getting two, three or four sets of different funding from the programme. By coincidence, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, was due to visit the hospital the next day, as Deputy McGuinness had organised the trip earlier. It was embarrassing for the Tánaiste to visit the only hospital in the whole country which had received no funding.

The hospital had been used as a showcase because of the manner in which it managed its accident and emergency department and the out-patient department etc. It had been cited at Cabinet level. On the day, the Tánaiste gave reassurances that the issue would be rectified immediately, and some funding was allocated in order to begin work. Further funding was to be allocated in the future. I promised at the time that I would raise an issue on the Adjournment in the autumn to monitor the progress on the case.

The current accident and emergency department in St. Luke's hospital in Kilkenny was formerly a laundry room. The fire exit is blocked, a situation condemned in a recent health and safety report. The department is inadequate for the number of patients it deals with, as the hospital covers Carlow and Kilkenny, along with some surrounding areas. A promise was made by the Tánaiste in July that the hospital would also receive a stroke unit.

Other side issues include the minor injuries unit. The doctors and nurses in St. Luke's have an excellent record of working with the local GPs to ensure that patients only present at the accident and emergency unit when necessary, unlike in Dublin where unfortunately, perhaps through a lack of GPs, people present themselves to accident and emergency units and consequently cause a major backlog. It is regrettable that St. Luke's, which was hailed as a showcase hospital, was in effect punished for its excellence. Thankfully, that has been corrected and I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's reply on progress and the commitment made by the Tánaiste at the time. I look forward to hearing good news from the Minister of State in terms of future funding.