Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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552. To ask the Minister for Health the funding and support which will be provided to improve services and increase capacity at Beaumont hospital in the interim period before the new emergency department is operational; if she will provide a detailed outline of plans in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52947/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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In January 2025, Beaumont Hospital launched its five-year strategy Building Excellence in Care, Together, focused on delivering patient-centred care and modernising infrastructure to meet evolving healthcare needs.

Funding for current expenditure is allocated on an annual basis through the Estimates process with future levels of funding considered as part of the national estimates and budgetary process. From 2020-2025 the overall budget for Beaumont Hospital increased by 37%. WTE allocation increased by 15% and bed numbers increased by 2% in the same period.

Additionally, a third CT scanner is now in-situ. The Hospital has increased CT ED and inpatient capacity over the past few months. In Q3 2025, there have been an extra 120 ED and inpatient imaging procedures per month compared to Q1.

There are a number of significant proposals for capital investment in Beaumont Hospital, and all are progressing through the requisite design and planning stages. These proposals are being managed through the HSE capital development process in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines. As a live hospital campus there is an added complexity in terms of planning, sequencing and enabling each of these projects. Our Model 4 acute hospitals require a significant amount of enabling works to prepare for larger projects. These key enabling pieces are ongoing.

In May 2025, the proposed new Emergency Department received a final grant of planning. The project is now progressing to detailed design stage.

In October 2024, planning permission for a 95-bed ward block was granted. The proposal is now at detailed design. Proposals for a 64-bed Critical Care Unit (CCU) are dependent on the relocation of the existing Endoscopy Department. In March 2025, final grant of planning was received for this new Endoscopy Department. It is now progressing through to detailed design stage. In parallel, design of the 64 bed CCU is underway at preliminary design stage.