Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister apologises for not being here. I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this matter. A number of projects have been identified by the University of Limerick hospital group for further development. These include a proposal for a 96-bed ward block at University Hospital Limerick, UHL, on the Dooradoyle campus and a 90-bed replacement ward block at St. John's Hospital in Limerick city. It will be necessary to prioritise these projects in a national context. It is important to note that a number of construction projects are under way at UHL. Acute hospital campuses are complex sites and all construction must be carefully planned and scheduled to ensure patient care is not impeded or unnecessarily impacted.

In the 2017 national service plan, the HSE outlined a number of projects which are expected to be completed and become operational in 2017 or early 2018. In particular, the opening of the new emergency department at UHL has been identified as a priority in the 2017 service plan. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has confirmed that an additional €1.4 million has been allocated to facilitate the opening of the new emergency department later this year. The new facility will triple the size of the current emergency department and will immeasurably improve the experience of patients in terms of comfort, privacy and dignity. The new emergency department is currently being fitted out and recruitment of the additional staff required for the enlarged facility is ongoing. The acute medical assessment unit and outpatient department are being refurbished and reconfigured to provide eight additional assessment places and 12 replacement assessment spaces. In addition, a surgical and pre-operative assessment unit is projected to open in the third quarter of 2017 and will provide 14 additional assessment spaces. I also note the clinical education and research centre, which is co-funded by the University of Limerick, is projected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2017. It has an estimated capital cost of €12.9 million.

These projects demonstrate the considerable investment in infrastructure which is currently under way on the UHL campus and which will benefit the wider hospital group. The HSE is concentrating on applying the limited funding available for infrastructural development in the most effective way possible to meet current and future needs. The reality is that limited funding is available for new projects over the multi-annual period of 2016 to 2021, given the level of commitment in place and the costs of completion of projects already under way. Further investment in the UL hospital group must therefore be considered within the overall acute hospital sector infrastructure programme and within the overall capital envelope available to the health service. The House is aware that a proposed mid-term review of the State's capital envelope will assess progress and review emerging pressures and demands. It is expected that this mid-term review will be completed in 2017. The Department of Health will work with the HSE and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to conduct this review of the capital programme. The Department of Health will also conduct a bed capacity review which will assess projected health care needs over the next decade and the associated infrastructural requirements to meet these needs.