Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Investment in Portiuncula University Hospital is a major priority for me. I was delighted and honoured to bring the Taoiseach to meet the assistant general manager, Ms Marguerite Dooley, the director of nursing, Ms Mary Mahon, and the senior clinical management team in the hospital when he visited Ballinasloe last February. The Taoiseach had an opportunity to open a new CT scan facility and meet the radiology team and healthcare teams all over the hospital. It is incredible to see there are nearly 200 more staff working there. We have close to 1,000 healthcare professionals in teams working in the hospital. The Taoiseach also visited the emergency department, ED, and was shown the tight spaces available, people on trolleys and the dire situation. He listened to concerns of the ED staff and heard of the urgent need for additional treatment bays.

I am delighted, following this visit, that we are seeing some progress. I gave my full support to a priority proposal from the Saolta University Health Care Group for a modular build of ten new additional treatment bays for Portiuncula hospital and submitted a letter of support to the Minister for Health. I received confirmation this week, in the HSE capital plan announced with the Minister, of the addition of appraisal stage for the expansion of the ED at the hospital. People can see change happening in our hospital. There are cranes everywhere. Some €20 million was allocated this week to the hospital, €15 million of which is for the 50-bed ward block to see it completed and hopefully opened for next year.

Even more crucially, this winter the hospital will be under considerable pressure. The hospital team took the initiative to move the outpatient department to a build on the grounds. Eight single beds and another two double units will open, delivering 12 beds. This is crucial because we have 13 single rooms in the hospital. The hospital dates back to the 1940s with multi-bed ward blocks. Dealing with infection control is impossible when working in these tight spaces. The opening of these beds will make a huge difference. This capital plan is crucial in delivering €4 million for those beds to open, hopefully in the next couple of months.