Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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373. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 773 of 7 September 2018, if the application submitted by hospital management to have the facility reopened has been formally assessed; the details of the application submitted including costings; when a decision will be made in respect of the application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39598/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As previously outlined to the House, my Department has engaged with the HSE this year to identify the location and mix of beds across the hospital system, which can be opened and staffed this year and into 2019 in order to improve preparedness for Winter 2018/2019.

The proposal from the HSE to increase acute and community bed capacity, which identifies 609 acute beds and 290 residential care beds to be phased in between 2018 and 2020, includes a 20-bed short stay ward in Letterkenny University Hospital. This proposal is currently under consideration.