Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ryan for raising the matter and she is right that investment alone will not solve the problem. A wholehearted, collaborative approach around management, investment and patient flow is needed. She is correct; the people of the mid-west deserve access to responsive, urgent and safe emergency care. It is about the combination of increased capacity and reforms, which the Government is aiming to deliver.

More beds and more investment at UHL are important and critical. The Senator made reference to the HIQA report. As she rightly said, the Government has asked HIQA to lead a review into urgent and emergency care in the mid-west, including consideration of the need for a second emergency department. The Government expects the HIQA interim report shortly, with a final report due some time around May of this year. The Minister for Health, along with the Government, will fully consider the HIQA report when it becomes available and the Minister will take any action that is deemed necessary to ensure, again, the quality and the safety of delivery of further and future urgent and emergency care services for the people of the mid-west.