Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address the Seanad on the proposals in the recently published national development plan with regard to a new hospital in Cork. The health service capacity review, which was published on 23 January 2018, identifies additional capacity requirements in our health service and also makes it clear that, in the absence of major reforms, the demand on our hospital system in particular will become unsustainable. The review clearly states that, together with reformed models of care, we need extra capacity across acute hospitals and primary and social care. It concludes that acute hospital bed capacity will need to increase by 2,600. I am delighted that the very significant increases in capital funding in the health service as a result of the national development plan will allow us to deliver on this capacity as well as on a range of other health capital projects and programmes across acute, primary and social care.

Under the national development plan, capital funding for our health services will be 165% higher for the next ten years than it was for the past ten years. This is a sea change commitment to capital investment in our health services. A total of €10.9 billion over the next ten years provides a real, long-term opportunity to improve our services, drive down waiting lists, increase bed capacity, reform pathways of care, and modernise how we deliver health services. The new hospital for Cork is one of the major investment projects promised in the national development plan.

It is important to recognise that the national development plan is a long-term plan. It provides for a large number of health developments throughout the country, including both national programmes and individual projects across acute, primary and social care. Many of its proposals are at an early stage of development, including the new hospital for Cork. Further planning to progress the investment in a new hospital for Cork will now be undertaken. This will include full evaluation of local capacity and infrastructural needs as well as a framework for decision-making on the optimal location from a clinical and population needs perspective. For all projects, we must ensure that we carefully plan the use of all capital funding using robust methods of appraisal, assessment and selection to meet population needs and achieve value for money. In this way, the unprecedented health capital investment of €10.9 billion over the next ten years will allow the health services to provide the necessary infrastructure and equipment to support the Government's vision for a high-quality, safe, accessible and sustainable health care system into the future.