Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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433. To ask the Minister for Health the preparations being made to increase acute hospital capacity in winter 2018-2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43646/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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My Department is working closely with the HSE to ensure that local and regional winter plans at hospital and local level are consolidated and supported through policies and plans at national level to ensure the most effective response to the winter challenges to unscheduled care provision. As part of Budget 2019, an additional €10 million in funding is being provided for once-off initiatives in 2018 to manage the known increase in demand that our hospital services will experience in the coming months, with a focus on supporting patients in the over 75 age group.

In the first quarter of 2019, in the region of 80 additional beds will be brought on stream, including an additional 30-bed ward in Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda, a 40-bed modular ward block in South Tipperary General Hospital, and four high dependency beds in the Mater and Cork University Hospital respectively. In addition, the new ED planned for Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda is due to open early in 2019.

Furthermore, €10 million in funding is being made available in 2019 to enable additional acute beds to be opened for Winter 2019/2020. This is the first step in the implementation of the Capacity Plan, which has identified over 600 acute beds to be phased in between 2018 and 2020. My Department is currently engaging with the HSE to finalise the details of this investment.