David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I hope he is the bearer of good news for Waterford with regard to this matter. I seek an update from the Minister for Health - I am sure the Minister of State will give this on his behalf - about plans to build a 100-bed community nursing unit in the grounds of St. Patrick's Hospital in Waterford. I will provide an update of the situation and a brief history of the issue.

In 2008, HIQA carried out inspections in St. Patrick's Hospital and as a result of those inspections, it advocated that St. Brigid's ward in St. Patrick's Hospital should close, with the result that 19 beds were lost to the system. At the same time, the HSE carried out a review and the Prospectus report was published which dealt with bed capacity for geriatric care facilities in the State and for community nursing units.

The review was completed in 2012 and the Prospectus report examined bed capacity up to 2013. This informed the Minister's multi-annual capital plan which runs from 2014 to 2018. At the time when St. Brigid's ward was closed, the then Minister for Health promised that a replacement 50-bed unit would be built to replace those 19 beds but also to bring additional beds into the system. Like a number of capital funding promises, along came the crash and this project was put on hold. A further review was carried out and a new purpose-built 100-bed unit was promised. However, this does not provide any additional beds because this 100-bed unit is assigned to replace further wards and beds in the existing St. Patrick's campus.

The Minister will be aware that there are HIQA inspections of a range of community nursing units and geriatric care facilities across the State. What I want to achieve, and what I hope the Minister wants to achieve, is that this unit be built as quickly as possible, given that there are going to be further HIQA inspections. Notwithstanding my concern about bed capacity generally, and that this is the only geriatric care facility and community nursing facility in Waterford city, I welcome the commitment to build this 100-bed unit on the St. Patrick's campus grounds. Has the design team been appointed? Have the tender documents been completed? Has planning permission been sought? Is capital guaranteed for this project under the HSE's multi-annual capital plan, which runs up to 2018? The most important and direct question is, when will work on the ground start? When will we see work happening? There are a lot of capital projects promised for Waterford. A palliative care unit is another example of a facility that we were promised, and we are being told that there is commitment, that we are moving in the right direction, that it is a long process and that we are on the next stage. People want to know when they will see diggers on the ground and work happening to make this a reality.