Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our colleague, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. I salute his proactivity and his bringing about change and results, which is what it is all about.We salute that. It is a wonderful and exciting programme with an 11% increase on 2022, €1.027 billion in expenditure, which is a phenomenal level of expenditure, and €140 million devoted to ICT. In that context, the Minister does not need reminding that we need every system in place to avoid cyberattacks.

I turn, as is natural, to another part of the good news story, namely, our wonderful Cavan General Hospital. We are very proud of the latter. The Minister visited it recently. It has excellent staff and leadership and offers great patient care. I meet people a few times a week at my office and that and I have yet to meet people complaining of their experience within it. Sometimes there is an issue around waiting, but never with the quality of care there. I am delighted that part of the capital programme is a new emergency department and endoscopy suite in a new build at Cavan General Hospital. It will involve 18 rooms with en suite facilities, two more isolation rooms, relocation of the existing emergency department, two resuscitation bays, ten major injury treatment bays, three paediatric beds and three isolation areas. It is a great potential building. It is wonderful news. The enabling works are going on involving mechanical and electrical work. As it stands, it is a three-storey build. Would the Minister consider supporting the concept of going up two more storeys? That would be more cost-effective and efficient. We could achieve 52 new beds, which would be a great news story for a wonderful hospital, a growing population and a developing area.

The tenders are going out this year and I understand it takes about 24 months to get these things delivered. The Minister said a wonderful thing at the end of his address. It was that he will see the projects delivered on time and, indeed, ahead of schedule. This has been quite bizarre. After great lobbying on my part, we secured a new Garda barracks for my village. We got approval in 2015. It is only one year in construction at the moment. That is bizarre. We have to, particularly in health, get this right. I am pleased the Minister identified that. Will he respond more on how he intends to achieve that?It would cost roughly €25 million to go up the two new storeys.

There are additional facilities in Monaghan Hospital, namely, eight new beds and a minor injuries unit. That is great news because it helps make Cavan hospital efficient. There is a wonderful Monaghan Hospital there, providing great rehabilitative care and great care for stroke patients and a range of people. We are proud of what has grown in Monaghan Hospital. There were initial difficulties and controversy when Monaghan Hospital was closed but, no more than Roscommon, it has turned out to be a positive development in terms of what is in Monaghan. I hear nothing but good about the rehabilitative facilities there.

The programme and plan are exciting and welcome. The fact the Minister wants it to happen fast and to supervise that is also exciting and welcome. The spend on my hospital in Cavan is good, and on Monaghan. Will the Minister consider my suggestion on going up the two floors? He might also give us a concept of how we sees that all finishing and when. I like the fact he is going to get these things to happen.We cannot have plans on paper, money committed and these things not happening. I know the Minister means it and will do it but would like to hear when he hopes to be down to open it.