Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

871. To ask the Minister for Health her plans to address the significant waiting times in the emergency department at Naas hospital, where recent figures show an average wait time of 11.4 hours; the expected timeline for implementation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25885/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Government is extremely conscious of the distress overcrowded emergency departments cause to patients, their families, and frontline staff working in challenging conditions in hospitals throughout the country, including Naas General Hospital (NGH).

As the Deputy will be aware, the solutions to overcrowded emergency departments largely lie outside of those emergency departments. The Government is committed to the ongoing development of NGH and has allocated significant resources in to meet the needs of patients using the hospital.

The 2025 budget allocation for NGH is over €130 million, an increase of 67% from 2020. Staffing numbers at the hospital have continued to grow, with a total of 1,003 WTE in March 2025. This is an increase of 32% compared to the end of 2020.

Within the Capital Programme 2025 there are several projects allocated to NGH, with many underway. These include the reconfiguration and refurbishment of an existing space to provide an 11-bed Acute Medical Assessment Unit, an ED admission and discharge lounge, and all necessary works for a replacement MRI scanner.

Similar to many acute hospitals nationally, NGH has experienced increased demand for urgent and emergency care (UEC). However, the number of patients waiting on trolleys at 8am was down 5% from January through April 2025 compared to the same period last year, despite a 4% rise in ED presentations for the same time period.