Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What you say makes complete logical sense, a Chathaoirligh.

I support the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by my colleague, Senator Seery Kearney.

I would also like to raise an issue that I have raised on many occasions, as have many other colleagues across the House, which is University Hospital Limerick, UHL. I welcome the announcement by the Minister yesterday that enabling and foundation works will commence straightaway for the second 96-bed block unit in the hospital. It makes absolute sense that the contractors there now would do the enabling and foundation works for the second block. I am told that type of work involved in constructing the 96-bed unit is substantial. I call on the Minister to outline the timelines and to sanction the business case for the second 96-bed block. We all know it is needed. There has been underinvestment in capacity in UHL for decades. We had reconfiguration that was an absolute disaster. That should never have happened. It was a classic example of putting the cart before the horse. We are in a situation where reconfiguration did not happen in other parts of the country after the disastrous experience that the people of the mid-west, in particular, Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary, have suffered. That policy decision at the time was a disaster and the fact is that people's lives have been impacted. People's health has been impacted. People have had horrendous experiences on trolleys as a result of it. It is incumbent on the Minister to sanction the business case for the 96-bed unit and give us the timeline. I welcome the fact that the first 96-bed block unit will be up and running by the end of 2024, which is a year and a half away. Surely to God another year should see the second 96-bed block built.