Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to outline to the House on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, the position in regard to the new emergency department at UHG. This project is part of a larger development incorporating maternity and paediatric services and is included in the HSE capital programme for 2021.

Approval has been granted to complete a temporary extension to the emergency department to provide additional accommodation, in the first instance related to Covid requirements. The temporary ED project and associated works will also serve as an enabling works projects for the proposed permanent emergency department as it will help to free up the site required for the proposed new block. As rightly stated by the Senator, the accommodation includes segregated waiting and treatment areas, isolation rooms, additional resuscitation spaces, additional support accommodation to take account of new requirements to treat Covid-19 patients and improved infection control and prevention requirements for emergency departments. An external works in support of this temporary accommodation includes enabling works by way of roads and car parks reconfiguration, utilities and drainage diversions all to the east of the main block of UHG.The temporary emergency department extension building will be a single storey with a rooftop plant room and will be connected to the main hospital block at the existing emergency department entrance. Site works have been under way for some time and it is expected the project will be completed by quarter 2 of 2022.

The main emergency department women's and children's development at University Hospital Galway is a complex project and is in the early stages of design progression. The project is of significant scale and must progress through the stages outlined in the public spending code. The full accommodation scope for the entire development has now been agreed following an internal HSE review and it is now proposed to progress the full block as one single project. The proposed project will accommodate a new permanent emergency department, including clinical areas, ancillary support services and acute surgical and medical assessment units. It will also accommodate the labour and delivery unit, operating theatres, a maternity day assessment unit and foetal assessment unit. Other proposed facilities will include a neonatal unit, ante-natal and post-natal inpatient departments, a paediatric day ward and an inpatient ward.

The Senator asked for a definitive timeline on this project but no date has been set yet for the planning application for the main building, as the project is still proceeding through the stages of the public spending code. There are several enabling works projects to be completed on site before the main building can go ahead. The design team has had preplanning meetings with the local authority on various elements of enabling works. Site enabling works will be ongoing in preparation for the main emergency department-women and children's block development, including further road and services realignment. All capital development proposals must progress through a number of approval stages in line with the public spending code. The delivery of capital projects is a dynamic process and is subject to the successful completion of the various approval stages, which can impact on the timeline for delivery. The Senator asked if the design was 70%, 80% or 90% complete but I am not in a position to state that.