Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister for Health to address the need for a new inpatient cystic fibrosis unit at Beaumont Hospital. A unit for cystic fibrosis was promised in the programme for Government but, to date, there has been no progress and I fear it may have fallen off the agenda. This matter affects at least 180 adults in the immediate area who have cystic fibrosis and who are in need of such a unit. I have been contacted by a number of people about it and the daughter of one of them has cystic fibrosis. Is the unit still being considered and is any progress being made on it?

The Cystic Fibrosis Hopesource Foundation, which successfully lobbied for a part-funded cystic fibrosis outpatient unit at Temple Street Hospital, set up the first multidisciplinary teams for cystic fibrosis and seed-funded all related salaries for three years. There will be a press conference at Beaumont Hospital on 6 November to address the urgent need for an inpatient unit and I would love to be able to communicate some progress on that date. I will save time for the moment, if that is possible, until I hear the Minister of State's response.