Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for accepting this matter, which relates to an issue that is very important to us in Tipperary. It is particularly important to Councillor Declan Burgess, who has been working with the HSE for a number of years to try to push this project along in his home town of Cashel. It is infuriating because the process is stuck at a particular stage. St. Patrick's Hospital in Cashel in County Tipperary provides residential rehabilitation and respite care to older adults in the south Tipperary area. It provides a top-class service and is considered a very strong example of how to do community healthcare right. The national capital plan includes the new build for St. Patrick's Hospital in Cashel. It will be a 60-bed unit that will replace the current St. Anne's, St. Bernadette's and St. Benedict's wards. It has survived the review of the capital plan on numerous occasions and remains committed to by the HSE.

Councillor Burgess has been advised on numerous occasions that a design team has been appointed, and that a pre-planning meeting was conducted with Tipperary County Council. Members of the HSE design team have visited several sites as part of the process of agreeing the overall layout and design of the premises. It was planned to submit for planning permission by August 2019, and then subsequently in early 2020. We are very concerned that the delay in submission for planning permission is not a good indicator to the future development of this project. Time and again the HSE has said to us that they are at stage 2, which is the detailed design and planning application. It is imperative that planning permission would be submitted as soon as possible. There were significant delays due to Covid 19 and the complicated site investigations that have to be carried out in respect of historical locations. Despite several motions and questions tabled by him at the HSE health forum, Councillor Burgess is none the wiser as to the reasoning behind the delay in submitting the application to the planning section of Tipperary County Council. They were ready for submitting in August 2019 and early 2020 but it just never materialised.

We want to get to the bottom of the situation here. We made a commitment to develop this 60-bed unit. We have announced to the people in Cashel. The people in south Tipperary want this project delivered. It is very frustrating when, as a local councillor in your home town, you see people every day who know that the Government you represent announced a project in respect of which nothing has happened and which is stuck in the planning process. That is just not acceptable. Our representatives on the ground need answers when something like this happens. I really hope that the Minister of State will be able to provide some extra information for me and for Councillor Burgess.