Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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24. To ask the Minister for Health his plans for the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, County Laois; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20764/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The future of the hospital is as a constituent hospital within the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. That Group also includes St James's; Tallaght; Tullamore; Naas and the Coombe Hospitals.

Any change to services at Portlaoise Hospital will be undertaken in a planned and orderly manner. This will be guided by what is best in terms of patient safety and outcomes and will take account of existing patient flows, demands in other hospitals and the need to develop particular services at Portlaoise in the context of overall service reorganisation in the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.

The timing and scope of such changes will have regard for the capacity and capability of other services within the Group particularly in the short term. This work will be overseen by a Joint Steering Group comprised of representatives from Portlaoise and other hospitals in the Group, including the Group CEO, Dr. Susan O’Reilly.