Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is absolute confusion in Galway at the moment regarding healthcare plans by the Saolta University Health Care Group and the Department of Health. We know capital projects take some years to develop and bring to fruition, but for some years we have been led to believe that a full elective hospital and 200 badly needed inpatient beds are to be delivered in Merlin Park. Now we see that plans by the Department of Health, particularly the Sláintecare team, have cast doubt on that. They have recommended a selective day surgery plus minor see and treat, which is one place above a minor injuries unit and three places below a full elective hospital. I welcome any and all investment in healthcare in city and county and have long championed the need for a new emergency department at the University Hospital Galway, UHG, site. Some in the Saolta hospital group have, in my view, tried to stymie investment in UHG because they have a grand vision of a new hospital in Merlin Park, which I would love to see.

An options appraisal was initiated by the Saolta hospital group to see the best use of lands in UHG compared with Merlin Park and it has come up with estimated or indicative capital costs for such a hospital. To redevelop the UHG site, it estimates a cost of €2.944 billion. To build a new hospital in Merlin Park is estimated to cost €3.247 billion. An acute hospital in UHG and an elective hospital in Merlin Park is estimated to cost €3.15 billion. An acute hospital in Merlin Park and an elective hospital in UHG is estimated to cost €3.46 billion. These are huge sums of money and I would love to see any of those projects being delivered. It is right and proper we have a vision for that but there is confusion about Saolta's plans and the Department of Health's plans. I ask that we have a debate on Sláintecare at the early opportunity so we can discuss these very important plans, not just for Galway but for Cork and Dublin. There was a promise and an assumption that beds would be delivered in all three locations.