Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank the Minister for Health for attending the previous session. First, I wish to acknowledge the increased budget for health this year, with the provision of some €22 billion, including the retention of €4 billion in funding that was committed during the pandemic in 2020.

On the issue of critical care beds, I welcome the €10.5 million that has been allocated to provide an additional 19 critical care beds, bringing the total number of critical care beds to 340, in line with the 2018 health capacity review. That is most important. Some of the highlights of budget 2022 include the provision of €250 million to reduce acute hospital and community waiting lists, and in the Minister of State's area, the provision of €65 million in new funding for disability services.The focus is to be on the 1,700 young pupils who will be leaving school and looking for services. There is also to be a focus on nursing homes and the provision of better accommodation. There is new funding for mental health services and there is to be accessible contraception for women. All these measures are positive aspects of the budget for the coming year and for the roll-out of Sláintecare.

It is good to be addressing a Minister of State from Galway. I am sure she is very aware of many of the issues that exist there. I want to recount a story with which she is very familiar, namely, that of our emergency department. I was in the hospital today, as it happens, with my wife. I took a picture of the works that are progressing in the temporary emergency department. A colleague of mine who spoke to a nurse there in recent weeks learned that the nurse is at her wit's end. So are her colleagues. This is evident from the resignation of four emergency department nurses in recent weeks. The nurse my colleague spoke to said Galway is a centre of excellence. On paper, it is. While the staff do a tremendous job, the facility, both physically and spatially, is not at the races by comparison with what is evident in other parts of the country. A Portakabin is the entrance to the emergency department. While there is to be a temporary emergency department during the building works, it is likely that it will be in place for five to six years, assuming we get the planning application lodged for the emergency department, not to mention proceeding to detailed design and construction. The nurse to whom my colleague spoke felt Galway has been forgotten. Being in government, I do not like saying that. Pressure must continue to be exerted to ensure that the planning application for the emergency department is lodged. There seems to be an assumption that we are going to get planning permission. I hope we will, but we have a long history in Galway of projects that were not granted planning permission. I hope that will not be the case here.

The other matter I would like to talk about is the great need for inpatient beds in Galway. The Minister for Health appeared before the health committee two weeks ago tomorrow and was due to bring a memorandum to the Cabinet the next day regarding the elective hospitals. That did not happen. I am not sure whether it was deferred. I am sure the Minister of State is not in a position to say, or perhaps cannot. Saolta has indicated that we need new inpatient beds. Will they be provided? Are we going to get inpatient beds as part of an elective hospital? We need them. Senior Saolta executives were shocked by the Sláintecare team's proposal that only day beds would be provided in Galway. We need way more than that. The announcement was not what we expected. Any and all developments and investments in Galway are welcomed but inpatient beds are needed there, as part of the elective hospital or in conjunction with it. That is not provided for in the national development plan. The elective hospitals are provided for, but there is no mention of additional inpatient beds for Galway. It tends to be forgotten that Galway is a centre of excellence. The centre of excellence covers a region that extends from Letterkenny through Sligo and Mayo and on to Galway. We need inpatient beds. I am sorry that the Minister is not present. I have asked him about this previously. I appreciate that he was here earlier, but we need to get answers on whether there will be inpatient beds for Galway as part of the elective hospital or in conjunction with it as part of future plans.