Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The next matter is in the name of Senator Terry Leyden. We will wait for the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, who is due to come in to take it. I thank the Minister, Deputy Ross, for his visit. I now welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, to the House and wish her luck with her new brief and I wish her well in her political career. Senator Leyden has four minutes.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to clear up a misunderstanding that occurred yesterday morning. I felt that this matter would have been taken yesterday but I received texts, which I had not read at that stage, to the effect that it would be taken today. When it was not read out yesterday, I got the impression that it would not be included. I apologise to the Clerk if there was any misunderstanding. It was not intentional on my part.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator is human. Once he has sorted it out with the Clerk, we will move on.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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We did sort it out.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and congratulate her on her appointment. That said, I was expecting the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to be here. I know the Cathaoirleach and the Leader cannot dictate this, but I would like assurances that when a matter goes to the Minster with responsibility for the overall situation, he should be here unless there is good reason for him not being present. It is not fair to send new Ministers of State into this House on issues such as this when they are not in a position to give a definitive response to any supplementary question. That said, I welcome the Minister of State and wish her a successful career in the Department.I was there for a period and I hope that she receives proper delegation of authority and responsibility, delegated and signed by the Minister, unlike in the past when no delegations were made. Ministers had full responsibility and did not delegate any responsibility to Ministers of State. That is very important and all Ministers of State should insist on that and have their delegated responsibilities signed off and approved by the Government.

I raise the issue of the withdrawal of approximately €8 million for a rehabilitation unit at Roscommon University Hospital. In a statement published in the Roscommon People on 3 June 2016, Dr. Gerry O'Mara, a consultant geriatrician at the hospital stated, "I believe that if this project does not go ahead, this hospital will eventually lose its inpatient beds and be allowed to wither."

It was announced in May 2015 that the Health Service Executive, HSE, had approved €7.85 million to build a ten-bed unit which would operate as a satellite centre for the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. Now the HSE has stated that due to funding constraints and competing priorities, no funding can be allocated to this project in 2016. The executive confirmed that funding for the unit was included in the 2016-21 capital programme and that it was not intended to commence this project until later in that programme.

Roscommon lost its year-round, 24-hour accident and emergency unit. By way of compensation it gained a new endoscopy unit which has been partially opened and is very welcome. However, the loss of the accident and emergency department was a disaster for Roscommon University Hospital and represents a broken promise by the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, and the former Minister for Health, Senator James Reilly. That promise, made prior to the general election of 2011, resulted in a reward of two seats for Fine Gael in the constituency of Roscommon-South Leitrim. It is most regrettable that the accident and emergency department is now being pushed aside completely and was not included in the new programme for Government. The restoration of the accident and emergency service at Roscommon's acute hospital has been sacrificed for seats at Cabinet and other positions. The people of Roscommon will never forgive or forget those who set out to destroy the future of Roscommon University Hospital. I have stood by that hospital through thick and thin. During my period in office, we held on to the accident and emergency department. Accident and emergency departments are at the heart of any hospital, maintaining a throughput of patients. We need to ensure that we restore the accident and emergency service at Roscommon University Hospital. I commend those people who have protested every Saturday, in all weathers, at the loss of the accident and emergency unit in 2011.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his new role and wish every Senator well in this term. I hope, like my colleague the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, to be here for the next five years to engage and debate with Members of Seanad Éireann.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue, which I know is very important to him. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, sends his apologies and hopes to engage with the Senator on this matter at a later date. Roscommon University Hospital is a model 2 hospital within the Saolta University Health Care Group. It provides a significant range of hospital services to patients in the region including extended day surgery, certain acute medicine services and local injuries services. It also provides a wide array of diagnostic services including endoscopy, laboratory medicine, point of care testing and radiology, as well as specialist rehabilitation medicine and palliative care. The hospital has 86 inpatient beds and includes an acute mental health unit.

Roscommon University Hospital plays an essential role as part of the Saolta group of hospitals and will continue to do so into the future. We know that the future growth in health care will be in the areas of chronic disease management, day surgery, diagnostics and rehabilitation. The activity levels of model 2 hospitals such as Roscommon University Hospital will continue to increase over the coming years as these hospitals specialise in providing these services to meet the needs of their local populations.

A new endoscopy unit at the hospital opened on a phased basis on 1 June 2016. When fully operational, all endoscopy procedures will be carried out in the new unit, freeing up theatre capacity for more day surgery cases to be carried out in Roscommon. The official opening of the unit will take place later this year and I am sure Senator Leyden will attend, along with many colleagues.

The specialist rehabilitation unit planned for Roscommon University Hospital was one of the many projects in the HSE multi-annual capital plan 2015 to 2019 and internal HSE approval was granted to progress the development of the unit in 2015. The spatial plan for the hospital was approved in the first quarter of 2016 and the project team, comprising hospital, clinical and estates personnel, is currently being assembled. Following this work by the project team, the project will move to the next stage. The HSE has advised the Department of Health that funding for the project would be considered in the 2017 to 2021 multi-annual period. It is my expectation that every effort will be made to fund this project as early as possible in that time period.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply and thank her for her interest in Roscommon, where she will always be welcome. I ask her to take a personal interest in this particular issue and should she do so, I would have confidence that the project will commence in 2017.