Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús báire, gabhaim buíochas le hoifig an Chathaoirligh as ucht an deis a fháil labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo. É sin ráite, is mór is trua nach bhfuil aon duine de cheathrar Airí ón Roinn Sláinte i láthair inniu.

Tá an t-eolas is déanaí á lorg agam ar stádas an togra ar son rannóg éigeandála nua d'Ospidéal Choláiste na hOllscoile, Gaillimh. Is dea-scéal é go bhfuil an rannóg éigeandála sealadach ag feidhmiú faoi láthair, ach an faitíos atá orm ná go mbeidh an rannóg sealadach mar ionad buan mar gheall ar an moill atá ar an dtogra nua. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an tuairisc measúnú stráitéiseach ag an Roinn Sláinte faoi láthair, ach cén uair a cheadóidh an Roinn é le go mbeidh cead an togra a bhrú ar aghaidh go dtí an chéad chéim eile?

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. This is a long-running saga that I have raised in the House on a number of occasions, which is the status of the application for a new emergency department in University Hospital Galway. The strategic assessment report, SAR, is presently with the Department of Health and has been since early summer. I am looking for an update on when that might be pushed along to the next step because we are still talking about the early stages on a process that has already in many people's eyes, and certainly in mine, taken far too long. We got a commitment in Galway at this time in 2018 from the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, that the Saolta Hospital Group had said it would lodge the planning application for a new emergency department before Christmas 2018. Here we are now in the autumn of 2022 and we are still a very long way away from the lodging of the planning application. There is huge frustration.

I welcome the fact the new temporary emergency department in Galway that has 43 beds has opened, but the concern in the community is that this will be a permanent emergency department for years to come because we are waiting so long for a new emergency department. I know the temporary emergency department has 43 bays and it will enhance privacy and dignity for people arriving at it, but there are still high numbers of people on trolleys in Galway, as evidenced in Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, trolley watch. The Department of Health could confirm this time last year that one in eight patients on trolleys in Ireland were in University Hospital Galway.

There are serious issues with the capacity in Galway. The population, like all our cities, thankfully, is growing, which will put further pressure on services. There seems to be a slowness or an inability to push this project through the various stages of public spending. I appreciate it is now a larger and more complex project because it encompasses the maternity and paediatric units as well, which is welcome. However, the inability to lodge a planning application, which has been delayed for so long and is now tied up in the public spending code and the various processes and stages of that, is very worrying. It is very concerning for people in Galway who, for a long number of years, have looked at what is an inadequate emergency department.I said to the Taoiseach when he was here before Christmas last year that he had raised this issue in 2015 in the Dáil with the then Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and that Enda Kenny had said at the time the hospital was not fit for purpose. It still it is not fit for purpose. It is less fit for purpose than it was. Thankfully, the new temporary emergency department is open but we need to see this project pushed through the public spending code.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Kyne for raising this matter and for this opportunity to provide an update on the status of the new emergency department at University Hospital Galway. I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the very difficult and unacceptable conditions for patients and families and healthcare staff who work in University Hospital Galway.

I am pleased to say, as the Senator acknowledged, that an interim or temporary emergency department has opened in the hospital in recent weeks. That is a €13 million capital investment which has delivered an interim emergency department with more capacity, as mentioned by the Senator. There are now 43 patient bays compared with 34 bays in the pre-Covid emergency department. The unit also provides 43 single, closed cubicles and extra resuscitation bays thus providing greater dignity and privacy for patients in Galway. Practical completion of the interim emergency department was achieved in July 2022 and after a commissioning, equipping and training phase the unit opened over the weekend of 8 and 9 October.

I am aware this emergency department proposal has been discussed for the last ten years. I share the frustrations of the team in Galway and the patients there. One of the reasons that the proposal is still in a development phase is that there has been a very significant increase in the scale and ambition for the solution on the Galway site.

Originally the proposal was for a new multistorey emergency department block at an estimated cost of between €65 million and €120 million. However, as a result of service-led demands, the proposal now incorporates a new emergency department, and a new maternity and paediatric block which is likely to require capital investment of hundreds of millions of euro.

As the Senator will be aware, all projects proposed in excess of €100 million must be subject to the full scrutiny of the public spending code process. The code is designed to ensure that investment decisions are underpinned by a clear policy rationale and that costs are well understood. This ensures that maximum value for money can be achieved for the taxpayer through disciplined project evaluation, preparation and implementation.

The strategic assessment report for the proposal is under review by the various policy areas within the Department of Health to ensure its alignment with national policies and strategies. Also, this is being done to ensure that the scale and ambition of the proposal is in line with national policy objectives and affordability within the overall capital envelope.

Once the departmental review of the strategic assessment report is completed it will be submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for review. If that Department finds that the strategic assessment report provides a basis to proceed then approval will be granted to develop the proposal by means of a preliminary business case. The interim emergency department and associated works will also serve as enabling works for the larger proposal subject to its approval under the public service code.

I have noted the Senator's comment that one in eight patients is on a trolley in University Hospital Galway. I accept that he welcomes the interim emergency department but does not want it to become the permanent solution. I know that there are concerns around that and the delays. I note the Senator got a commitment in 2018 and that we seem to be a long way off planning. The Senator wants to know why that has happened and I hope that I have outlined the reasons, and the processes, that must be followed in order to achieve the same outcome.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for reading the reply from the Department of Health. I appreciate that the new temporary emergency department has opened. One could be cynical and suggest that all of this is a delaying tactic by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Health and permanent Government to ensure moneys are not spent.

There are also delays with larger projects. Initially, this project included maternity and paediatrics but was only what is called a "shell and core". It did not include fit-out but it encompassed the design of the building and the structure to allow that to go to planning. The shape and scale of the building was still there. Had that gone to planning, it could be under construction, allowing the fit-out at a later date. Now, because the fitting-out of these two buildings has been included, the project has been pushed over the €100 million threshold which means it must go through a series of stages before being allowed to proceed. If one wants to delay a project then there are plenty of ways to do so. The public spending code can easily delay the most worthy of projects for a long number of years and that is why I am frustrated about something that has been talked about for a decade, as the Minister of State said in her response. It has been described as not fit for purpose. That means it is not fit for purpose for patients and the hardworking staff who are under great pressure. It continuously has a high number of patients on trolleys and, unfortunately, it will continue to have for some years to come because of more delays.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will convey the Senator's concerns to the Minister for Health and the Department. The proposal for the new emergency department is now part of a larger development that incorporates maternity and paediatric services. It is a complex project that is in the early stages of design and progression. It is regrettable that it has taken this long. I hope that by the time this hospital is built it will be better and worth the wait. Probably getting it right in the first instance and putting all of these services in it at the right time is the right thing to do.

I appreciate the Senator's frustration. The fact that we now have these two extra buildings has pushed us over the €100 million mark, as the Senator said. It is subject to the spending code's requirements. In the long term, I think it will be worth it because there will be a state-of-the-art hospital that incorporates all of these measures. In the meantime, I hope the interim emergency department will assist the constituents of Galway. I thank the Senator for representing them today in the Seanad.

Pat Casey (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House today.