Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will convey the Senator's concerns to the Minister for Health and the Department. The proposal for the new emergency department is now part of a larger development that incorporates maternity and paediatric services. It is a complex project that is in the early stages of design and progression. It is regrettable that it has taken this long. I hope that by the time this hospital is built it will be better and worth the wait. Probably getting it right in the first instance and putting all of these services in it at the right time is the right thing to do.

I appreciate the Senator's frustration. The fact that we now have these two extra buildings has pushed us over the €100 million mark, as the Senator said. It is subject to the spending code's requirements. In the long term, I think it will be worth it because there will be a state-of-the-art hospital that incorporates all of these measures. In the meantime, I hope the interim emergency department will assist the constituents of Galway. I thank the Senator for representing them today in the Seanad.