Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with Senator Burke in paying tribute to the staff here as we come towards the end. We will be here a while yet but Senators will know what I mean. Obviously the Taoiseach will call an election very shortly so I thank the staff for the work they have done at all times. I thank them for their support and help, it has been a pleasure to work with them.

I wish to raise the regrettable failure by the Government and the HSE to deliver a badly needed 20-bed rehabilitation unit at Roscommon University Hospital. Let us remember that we have only one rehabilitation facility at the National Rehabilitation Hospital unit in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. In 2015, a 20-bed unit was promised. Then the Minister for Health, and now Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, allocated €7.5 million to get the project up and running. Eight years have elapsed and nothing has happened. Deputy Naughten and I and others have pushed the issue to see what is wrong and identify where the project is being held up. The Roscommon University Hospital committee met the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, when the endoscopy unit was opened in 2018. I know that representatives of the hospital committee have since also met the current Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. However, nothing has been done.A design team was put in place for stage 1 of the process and tenders were received, but that is seemingly where the project stopped. In Boyle, the HSE met the current Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, back in 2018. Obviously, I will not be able to submit a Commencement matter now, but will the Leader contact the Taoiseach’s office? This delay is unacceptable. We need to get the project moving, and not only for the west because this unit was to be a backup to Dún Laoghaire. We still really only have one rehab unit in this country whereas this project was to be a new 20-bed unit to serve much of rural Ireland.