Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss the 120 replacement beds that are needed at St. John's Hospital, Limerick. In 2017 the Minister, Deputy Harris, visited St. John's and acknowledged that he could see the need for the 120 beds to be replaced. My question is whether St. John's Hospital will be included in the capital plan. University Hospital Limerick is in the news all the time in respect of its beds and its bed capacity. While 60 modular beds have been started, it will be a while before they will be opened. We need to start planning for the future. Attendance numbers are up at both University Hospital Limerick and St. John's Hospital. St. John's Hospital is a minor injuries clinic but it does some day procedures and if it received 120 replacement beds on a permanent basis, it would be able to carry out more procedures and deal with more minor injuries. This would alleviate the pressure on University Hospital Limerick. The beds need to go ahead at the same time as in University Hospital Limerick because we need to alleviate the pressure. People come from all over the mid-west and Nenagh Hospital is now carrying out cataract operations but we need St. John's Hospital and University Hospital Limerick to deliver at full capacity to meet the needs of the mid-west.