George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour)
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689. To ask the Minister for Health her views on the optimum number of critical care beds that should be available in the acute hospital system; the number of critical care beds and the location of such beds at present; her plans on a hospital-by-hospital basis to increase this number; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5497/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Strategic Plan for Critical Care, noted by Government in December 2020, aims to provide for long term increases in critical care capacity to meet current and future needs.

The Plan is clinically-evidenced and aligns with the National Critical Care Clinical Programme “hub and spoke” Model of Care. This ensures that critical care services are provided in those hospitals where it is clinically appropriate to do so.

The Strategic Plan provides for 458 critical care beds by 2031 over two phases and this exceeds the recommendations of the 2018 Health Service Capacity Review, which had set out a requirement for 430 critical care beds by 2031.

Before the Plan’s adoption, there were 258 adult critical care beds. Very significant funding of €78.2 million has been provided by Government since 2021 to add an additional 94 beds in Phase 1 of the Strategic Plan to bring funded capacity to 352 critical care beds.

340 of these Critical Care beds have already been delivered - an increase of 82 beds or 31.7% over the baseline. A further 12 beds are provided for in NSP25. This will bring capacity to 352 critical care beds and will conclude Phase 1 of the Strategic Plan.

Phase 2 of the Strategic Plan will provide an additional 106 critical care beds by 2031 with developments at five priority sites.

These additional beds are reflected in the assumptions underpinning the 2024 Bed Capacity Expansion Plan, indicated for delivery in 2029-2031.

The timeframe reflects the scale and complexity of the projects, decant of existing accommodation, design, approval processes, construction, equipping and commissioning.