Christopher O'Sullivan
Cork South-West · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“The aim of the hierarchy of the plan-making, as set out in the Act of 2024, is to improve scope for the various tiers of the planning system to more closely relate to one another, therefore providing greater clarity and consistency for all involved, from individual citizens and residents' groups to landowners and developers and ultimately…”
“My understanding is that a ten-year modernisation programme has already been undertaken by the Courts Service and significant progress has been made in improving the availability and use of court data.”
“Under the Act of 2024, the national planning framework continues to spearhead and explicate the planning agenda and sits at the pinnacle of the plan-led system and structure, whereby all tiers of planning from regional to local align with strategic objectives set out in the national planning framework.”
“The Senator has suggested that such plans would identify strategic development priorities, including settlement hierarchy, infrastructure corridors, climate adaptation measures and areas for regeneration; set out indicative phasing for major infrastructure and public investment; include spatial mapping of long-term development objectives;…”
“The Bill also facilitates the completion of the work of the Valuation Tribunal and the facility for the local authority to issue the levy demand and, where necessary, for An Coimisiún Pleanála to deal with any appeals to the demand that may arise in those existing cases currently with the tribunal.”
“As the system of plan-making in the State has just been revised and is being implemented for the first time, the introduction of another layer of plan-making could undermine the new hierarchy that was carefully arranged and agreed following extensive engagement with a range of stakeholders, including the Office of the Attorney General, an…”
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“Accordingly, the important interaction between the NPF and the NDP is essential to realising our objectives. The Government has committed to provide increased support for infrastructure through the creation of a dedicated infrastructure division in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and through the new housing activation office in my Department. It is essential we continue to address barriers to delivery to meet the needs of current and future generations. This NPF provision builds on the existing policy approach to ensure we develop resilient, vibrant and inclusive places and communities. I am confident that with the implementation of the policy objectives of the NPF at national, regional and local levels, we will ensure the sustainable development of our country for future generations.”
“The revised NPF provides clear support for the continued development of Dublin as our capital city, along with a focus on the potential of our regional cities to provide an effective counterbalance to Dublin. The opportunities provided by the green energy transition to effect regional development are promoted by the strategy, in addition to the need to deliver essential infrastructure such as transport, water, wastewater and electricity projects that are needed to support additional population and employment growth in all of our regions. The funding of infrastructure projects with specific public investment projects to support and promote greater balance in regional development that align with the NPF is facilitated by the national development plan, NDP.”
“The ongoing shift to more regionally balanced growth supported by urban centres of scale will be important in ensuring effective regional development and in supporting competitiveness, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability. Critical to the achievement of greater regional balance is the overall development of both urban and rural areas in Ireland, with a particular policy focus on delivering strengthened and diversified rural communities, consistent with Government policy. This extends to the Gaeltacht areas across the country where the promotion and protection of the Irish language through the implementation of the language plans are supported in this revision.”
“The latest vacant homes action plan progress report, published in March, shows real progress is being made in tackling vacancy and dereliction, with significant investment through schemes such as the urban regeneration and development fund, the vacant property refurbishment grant and the repair and leasing scheme that help local authorities and property owners to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use and revitalise towns across the country. The cornerstone policy of both the existing and the draft revised NPF is the achievement of greater regional balance in future population and employment growth.”
“Addressing vacancy and making efficient use of existing housing stock is a key Government priority. To address this, a number of structures have now been established, including a dedicated vacant homes unit in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, a full-time vacant homes officer in each local authority and the publication of a vacant homes action plan to draw together a number of vacancy-related measures across relevant Departments.”
“The impact of this will be significant and will require co-ordination and prioritisation to ensure that necessary infrastructure is in place both to support and enable housing delivery and to ensure housing delivery is aligned with the provision of services and facilities, including education, childcare, healthcare and recreational facilities, to support the expansion of existing settlements and the creation of new, sustainable communities. Therefore, it will be critical to continue to deliver compact and sustainable growth patterns and any allocation of land related to updated targets will need to reflect the potential of brownfield land, including infill sites, the conversion of existing buildings and the reuse of vacant and derelict buildings, in addition to greenfield land, to deliver housing.”
“Work on this stage is under way based on revised NPF housing figures and it is intended this will inform the updating of development plans across the country in the coming months. This strategic plan-led approach to future housing development will inform the making of decisions on planning applications in a robust and efficient manner assisted by the statutory decision-making timelines contained within the Planning and Development Act 2024.”
“This population growth will require new jobs and homes which we need to plan for in a sustainable manner. This will require more land to be zoned as well as more housing from other sources, such as through tackling vacancy and dereliction to utilise our existing building stock and to assist in meeting our climate obligations. The NPF does not itself zone land and there must, therefore, be a further step to formalise the translation of updated NPF population and housing figures to the local level. The allocation of updated planning and housing growth requirements on a local authority by local authority basis will involve the balanced methodology that factors in the level of housing demand arising and performance in terms of recent housing delivery and capacity while ensuring adherence to the policy parameters of the NPF strategy.”
“The NPF is the Government's high-level strategic plan for shaping the future and development of our country to 2040. As outlined earlier by the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, this framework has been revised and updated to take account of changes that have occurred since its initial publication in 2018. It is a framework to guide public and private investment, to create and promote opportunities for our people and to protect and enhance our environment, from our villages to our cities and unique rural areas. Countering the trend of urban sprawl, supporting the targeted delivery of infrastructure services and increasing the availability of new homes is a key focus of the revised NPF. In the period between 2022 and 2040 it is expected there will be roughly an extra 1 million people living in our country.”
“I acknowledge Deputy Feighan and his esteemed guests. I thank the Senators for their contributions to today's debate. I have listened intently and will try at the end of the main body of my speech to come back to many of the comments and points raised. I will also respond on the proposed amendment, which the Government will be opposing. I will touch on the reasons for this towards the end of my contribution. I am pleased to have the opportunity to outline the importance of the first revision of the national planning framework. I welcome the valuable discussion that has taken place, which reflects the importance of ensuring there is an up-to-date national strategic plan in place to guide the decisions that will shape Ireland for the next 20 years and provide the policy clarity needed to give certainty in these challenging times.”
“The Government agrees it is important local authorities have the option to purchase a property where a social housing tenant is at risk of homelessness due to a notice of termination. However, local authorities must also use other options such as allocating a social housing tenancy to social tenants in the private sector on HAP or RAS on receipt of a valid notice of termination. In the motion and in Opposition contributions, it is never acknowledged that Government continues to exist an unprecedented level of investment in housing. It will amount to €6.8 billion in 2025. There were 92,500 homes delivered in the period between 2022 and 2024.”
“My Department is working closely with local authorities and their service delivery partners to support households to exit homelessness to a tenancy such as tenancies in the local authority and AHB properties, or in the private rental market supported by the HAP as well as the tenant in situ scheme. In light of the challenges in addressing homelessness, Government introduced the tenant in situ acquisitions in 2023 as a temporary, short-term measure to address the issue. This was continued in 2024 and is being extended into 2025. Since the introduction of the tenant in situ programme in March 2023, more than 3,100 second-hand homes have been purchased with approximately 2,000 of those being tenant in situ acquisitions.”
“It is a complex issue in which causal factors and family circumstances can vary considerably, as do the responses needed. Interrelated are other areas of the housing system and broader social and healthcare policy and service delivery. A whole-of-government approach is required in the response. This is how we are working, and we will continue to do so. Supporting households experiencing homelessness remains a priority of the Government, and the programme for Government reaffirms Ireland's commitment to working to eradicate homelessness by 2030. Budget 2025 allocated more than €300 million to this end, up €61 million on 2024. The motion calls on the Government to fund local authorities and approved housing bodies "to implement a tenant in-situ scheme, with a minimum purchase target of 2,500 homes per year".”
“We also require considerable private investment, including appropriate institutional capital, which is essential for the delivery of apartments and private rented homes. The State has stepped in to fill the gap in the interim, but continuing to do so over the longer term is neither desirable or sustainable. A vibrant affordable private rental sector with abundant supply and choice can be delivered only with a sizeable level of private capital investment. To this end, we will also engage with domestic lenders, ensuring the banking sector is maximising its lending capacity to support the development of new housing nationwide, especially for brownfield sites and for small builders. Homelessness remains a serious concern and a top priority of the Government.”
“The supply of new-build social homes also continues to be at a higher level than for many years. Our ambition is to deliver much more, and we will continue to do so in partnership with local authorities and other delivery partners. While of course the dip in overall delivery in 2024 was disappointing, as the Minister pointed out, we remain on a clear upward trajectory and it is important to put the 2024 figures into context. It is clear that with the year-on-year increase in the number of houses built, plummeting apartment completions on the back of an almost complete retrenchment of institutional capital was the root cause of the dip in overall delivery last year. I echo the Minister's sentiment that the level of investment required in the long term cannot be the sole responsibility of the State.”
“A continuing increased supply of new homes will help ease the impact of recent price increases and bring stability to the market, with Housing for All supporting access to affordable housing and assisting those who aspire to buy their own homes. From the launch of Housing for All to September last year, more than 10,000 affordable housing supports were delivered through AHBs, local authorities and the Land Development Agency and were facilitated through the first home scheme and vacant property refurbishment grant. Moreover, as the Minister pointed out, the level of affordable housing supports provided in 2024 will outstrip the delivery of 2023. Affordable housing schemes, including cost-rental schemes, are now operating at scale. This momentum will continue as a pipeline is developed by local authorities, AHBs and the LDA.”
“The Government is fully committed to delivering social, affordable and cost-rental homes at scale and to continuing accelerating housing supply across all tenures, with overall capital funding available of almost €6.8 billion for the delivery of homes in 2025. This will further increase the availability of affordable homes to buy and rent, securing a sustainable housing supply and building vibrant, liveable communities. Last year's dip in new home completions was certainly disappointing but we remain optimistic that the building blocks we have put in place will bear fruit and that with the appropriately targeted action by the Government, many of the 100,000 commencement notices lodged over the past two years will translate into new home completions.”
“As the Minister highlighted, more than 133,000 new homes were built and delivered between 2020 and 2024, with 92,500 of these delivered between 2022 and 2024, exceeding the Housing for All target for the period by 5,500 or so new homes – an almost 50% increase on the quantum delivered in the previous three-year period. The measures introduced under Housing for All have helped to establish a solid platform to scale-up delivery further in the short term and secure a sustainable level of supply that will help us to meet fully unmet and emerging demand. Indeed, the past three years have seen an average of 31,000 homes delivered annually.”
“The amendment affirms the Government's effort to “diversify sources of investment, noting the level of investment required in the long-term cannot be solely the responsibility of the State, and it will also require a very significant level of private investment, including appropriate institutional capital investment, which is essential for the delivery of critically needed private rental homes”. I will speak on those points further. The motion claims the Government is not doing enough. However, it is very clear that we have securely laid the foundation and built a housing pipeline that will allow us to continue to ramp up delivery in the coming years.”
“The reality is that the latest CSO data on market purchases of homes by non-households, including institutional investors, show the State was the largest non-household purchaser of homes in 2023, having acquired almost half of the 12,000 or so homes bought by certain purchasers, and that the owner-occupier guarantee introduced by the Government in May 2021 has succeeded in preventing the inappropriate purchase of homes by a single purchaser, securing those homes for purchase by homeowners, with planning permission granted for 55,600 homes and with conditions prohibiting bulk purchase by, or multiple sale to, a single purchaser between May 2021 and November 2024.”
“The motion calls for a blanket ban on rent increases and no further rent increases. We propose that the more appropriate measure is a more considered approach to regulating the private rental sector, including any recalibration of the current rent pressure zones that may be required, which will seek to strike the most appropriate balance between protecting affordability for tenants and increasing the supply of new rental homes through new private investment and construction. A blanket ban on rent increases would worsen the situation. Furthermore, the motion calls for a ban on institutional purchasing of houses and apartments other than by local authorities and approved housing bodies.”
“I echo the comments made by the Minister and reassert the Government's commitment to tackling the challenges in the housing sector. We know these challenges are having a genuine impact on people's lives and understand the urgency and need to ensure sufficient numbers of homes are delivered to ensure people are safe and secure in affordable homes of their choosing. We are working tirelessly to address these challenges and implement policies that make a positive difference. While there is still much to do, the Independents and Smaller Parties Technical Group and Opposition inputs here this morning do not fairly represent the efforts and progress made to date. Indeed, some of the proposals put forward in the motion would be more likely to deepen and perpetuate the housing crisis rather than resolve it. Let me touch on some of them.”
“I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his elevation to his new position, which is long overdue. I wish him good luck with it. I welcome the Other Members' Questions slot. It is not so long ago that I was on the backbenches. I recall how frustrating it was to get speaking time on Private Members' business. If I was lucky, I might have got a minute from a Minister. Some of the best contributions here today have been from backbenchers, including Deputies Crowe, Cahill and Toole. I take Deputy Heneghan's point 100% on activating planning permissions that are at risk of expiry. This is something we have to take on board. I certainly welcome the slot. It was worth fighting for. I thank all the Members for their contributions.”
“Whether it is water supply or water treatment, if we are serious about dealing with the housing crisis and ramping up construction of houses, then we need to have that infrastructure in place. Uisce Éireann has a body of work to do. We have put the funding behind it. It now needs to start making sure these projects come to fruition, that we can see houses being built and that areas like Kildare have basic water supply.”
“It is a great county with the population increasing, and probably due to increase further, so there has to be a long-term strategy rather than this ad hoc response as one might describe it. There are plans, relating to the water supply project in the eastern and midlands region, to take water from Parteen and Tipperary. That might be a while away, but we need to see that progress and to proceed as far as is possible. Coming back to Uisce Éireann, its budget is now €2.2 billion. I mentioned that as Ministers and Ministers of State we have no say directly in terms of the operation of Uisce Éireann and the prioritisation of projects, etc., but we provide the budget. It is a significant budget of €2.2 billion with more to come through Apple funding, etc. The message needs to be sent loud and clear to Uisce Éireann.”
“I again thank the Deputy and echo what he said about Uisce Éireann staff on the ground. The rate at which they respond to leaks is extraordinary. They are on the ground straight away, repairing leaks and for some of them it is almost all they do. I guess that comes back to the Deputy's point about a proper strategy for replacing old pipes and longer lengths of old pipes. We mentioned a few areas where they are replacing up to 3 km or 4 km pipes. That needs to be the strategy because the amount of money, resources and workforce hours it takes to repair these leaks is not productive. I completely agree that is a long-term strategy. I take the Deputy's point about Kildare as well.”
“I turn to Ballymore Eustace to Saggart pipeline critical repairs. In August 2024, Uisce Éireann successfully completed critical and complex repairs to a major trunk water main that connects Ballymore Eustace water treatment plant and the Saggart reservoir to safeguard water supply to 1.7 million customers in the greater Dublin area. In terms of other mains repairs, works took place on 31 March in Rickardstown, Newbridge and surrounding areas in County Kildare, and mains repair works are scheduled to take place today to Oakfield Heights, Oakfield Park, Oakglade, Hazelmere, Naas and surrounding areas in County Kildare, which may cause supply disruption. I will come back on more, but that is a pretty detailed response. I appreciate it may not cover every single area the Deputy brought up.”
“The works involve the replacement of more than 3.7 km of problematic water mains with new modern pipes. The works commenced in November 2024 with more than 1.3 km replaced to date. These works are being carried out as part of Uisce Éireann’s national leakage reduction programme. The works also involve laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers’ property boundaries and connecting it to the customers’ water supply. The works are expected to be completed by Summer 2025. In Leixlip, phase two of €20 million upgrade works are complete at the Leixlip water treatment plant. This plant has now commenced a third investment phase worth €30 million, aimed at increasing the resilience and capacity of Ireland's second largest water treatment facility, which is programmed to take three years to complete.”
“2) Act 2013, neither I, as Minister of State, nor my Department has an operational function in the matter to which the Deputy refers. However, I have made some inquiries and am informed that there are operational challenges in Celbridge, including Hazelhatch, with the water network under pressure. Uisce Éireann has water mains rehab works approved for design and construction in 2025. The works involve 5.3 km of water mains. Site investigation works are planned in the coming weeks and construction is due to commence in quarter 2 of this year. These works will help address the water network challenges in Celbridge. Turning to Allenwood, Uisce Éireann is carrying out leakage reduction works to provide a more reliable water supply and reduce high levels of leakage.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I do not think Kildare is a forgotten county, but the Deputy is well within his rights to represent the different areas. He is well aware of the different geographical areas in Kildare experiencing difficulties at the moment. This response is quite detailed, and I hope it gives him some comfort. If it does not, I ask the Deputy to come back to me and we will seek further detail. The Deputy will appreciate that the operation of the public water supply, together with operational issues locally are matters for Uisce Eireann, which has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. Under section 7 of the Water Services (No.”
“Unfortunately, the NPF has to be passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas before a direction can be given to local authorities to open up their county development plans, so that is urgent. I welcome the Senator’s comment on regional development, which is key. I also hear his point on the regional spatial strategy, which has to be sequential and within an appropriate timeline. I again thank the Senator for raising the matter. I will come back to him on his suggestion.”
“I will bring back to the senior Minister and the Department the Senator's suggestion to release lands that are zoned, serviced and ready to go in order that local authorities might be in a position to deliver much-needed housing on those. I take the Senator’s original point about the speed at which this has moved. It could have happened faster and it needs to happen faster. I spoke to the Minister recently about this and there is a sense of urgency in terms of finalising the NPF. With regard to the county development plans, it is welcome that a direction will be given to local authorities to open up their county development plans again and to make sure that, where there is appropriate land, brownfield sites will be developed to deliver those houses.”
“It will result in the need to plan for more housing delivery than the capacity currently available within development plans across the country, including the scope for strategic planning for transport-orientated development in and around Ireland’s five cities to support the delivery of new sustainable communities at brownfield and greenfield locations along existing or planned high-capacity public transport corridors. The requirement on a local authority basis will be based on a balanced methodology that factors in the level of housing demand arising, the performance in terms of recent housing delivery and the capacity, while ensuring adherence to the policy parameters of the NPF strategy. Work on this stage is under way and is based on the current revised draft NPF housing figures.”
“The key next step, further to the finalisation of the NPF revision, is to address, through the issuing of further policy direction by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the spatial distribution of the housing requirement by local authority area through the provision of updated planned housing requirements on a local authority by local authority basis. This will also ensure more land is zoned than will actually be required to ensure competition and choice in the land market.”
“The draft revised NPF, as agreed by the Government on 5 November, sets out a need to plan for the delivery of approximately 50,000 additional housing units per annum nationally to 2040. Decisions relating to the location and quantum of lands zoned for housing within each local authority development plan are for the elected members of each local authority, having regard to the provisions of the finalised revised NPF and relevant guidelines issued, including any further policy direction provided by the Minister.”
“Subject to Government approval - I hope this goes some way towards answering the Senator's question - and following a positive resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas, given that it has to go through both Houses, it is possible to conclude the revision process in the coming weeks and for the final revised NPF to be published. The final revised NPF will provide the basis for the review and updating of regional spatial and economic strategies and local authority development plans to reflect matters such as updated housing figures, projected jobs growth and renewable energy capacity allocations, including through the zoning of land for residential, employment and a range of other purposes.”
“In 2023, the Government commenced the process of revising the NPF to take into account changes that had occurred in the intervening years. The finalisation of the approval process for the revised NPF plays a key role in delivering on our broader objectives across Government, in particular, the scaling up of housing supply over the coming years. The draft revised NPF was subject to public consultation between July and September 2024, with 272 submissions received. A schedule of amendments to the draft was considered and agreed by the previous Government on 5 November. This has allowed for the completion of the environmental assessments that are required by EU law.”
“It is great to see this issue being raised in such a specific way and the urgency across both Houses, which is necessary. I will try my best to give the Senator updated timelines. Perhaps these will not be exact dates, but I hope to shed some light on the timelines he is seeking. The national planning framework 2018 is the 20-year strategy for strategic planning and sustainable development of our urban and rural areas to 2040 with the core objectives of securing balanced regional development and a sustainable approach to the form and pattern of future development. Since the NPF was first published in 2018, the regional strategies and local authority development plans have largely been updated to reflect the objectives of the NPF.”
“Progress has been made in some regards but the Senator is right that we could do more. We could solve two problems. Derelict buildings are eyesores but are also potential solutions for tourism, if we are talking about tourist accommodation, and housing. I again thank the Senator for his contribution.”
“The 2018 planning and development regulations provide for an exemption, which has now been extended to the end of 2025, from the need to obtain planning permission for the change of use of certain vacant commercial buildings, including vacant properties above groundfloor premises, to residential use such as above-shop living. Returns from the local authorities in relation to the exemption for 2018 to 2023 indicate that 1,165 development notifications were received from developers for refurbishments of vacant commercial properties, relating to a total of 2,716 potential new homes being provided. The vacant property refurbishment grant provides funding of up to €50,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties, and up to €70,000 where a property is confirmed derelict.”
“It is intended in the context of related policies, legislative amendments and funding schemes that have been developed since the review commenced, in addition to the increasing challenges associated with dereliction, to now further consider the potential to improve the legislation and related supporting mechanisms. Placing sites on the derelict sites register, and collecting levies in respect of those sites, is not the sole mechanism that local authorities apply to tackle dereliction. Local authorities are working collaboratively with property owners in local communities on the use of a range of available statutory tools and funding schemes with a view to achieving the ultimate goal of bringing properties back into use.”
“I thank the Senator. In fairness to him, he has laid out his points in a structured manner and has covered all of the areas. I wish to say at the outset that I agree with him. It is an issue that we need to address. I am going to set out the existing legislation and the powers that local authorities have, but I will come back to his points later in terms of what we can do going forward. The Derelict Sites Act 1990 imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure the land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. The Act also imposes a duty on local authorities to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure any land within their functional area does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site.”
“I am sure it is the same in West Kerry Community Hospital, so it is important that a solution be found. I thank the Deputy again for bring this issue up and for speaking on behalf of the people of Kerry.”
“The HSE continuously reviews its services in line with population, health planning and Sláintecare principles to ensure that adequate and appropriate residential care services are available to older people in the region. I will bring Deputy Cahill's specific requests to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and I will point out that a similar reply to this one was issued in January 12 months ago and that we need to see more progress. I will be asking him that every single effort be made. There are positions to be filled. I appreciate that there is a difficulty in recruiting, and that is a global issue, but the people of west Kerry deserve better. They deserve a hospital that is working at full capacity. The level of care being provided in community hospitals the length and breadth of the country is extraordinary.”
“I thank Deputy Cahill again. There are 46 beds registered in West Kerry Community Hospital, 42 of which are currently open and occupied. West Kerry Community Hospital cannot admit more residents at present, as the opening of additional beds is dependent on staffing levels. West Kerry Community Hospital has experienced some difficulties with staff shortages, but all efforts are being made on a continuous basis to ensure safe staffing levels are in place to maximise the residential care capacity in the facility. Once the full complement of staff has been recruited in West Kerry Community Hospital, the HSE will be in a position to open the remaining beds. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and the HSE are committed to maximising all available services for older people in the Kerry region.”
“Officials from the Department of Health will continue to monitor the situation and to provide updates to the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell. The Minister of State remains committed to working alongside the HSE to address all concerns in respect of the residential care for older persons in west Kerry, now and for the coming years. As Deputy Cahill quite rightly highlighted, a five-hour return journey to visit a loved one is not acceptable. It is something that should expedite the drive to recruit extra staff so that West Kerry Community Hospital can work at capacity. The Deputy also made a relevant point on the Irish language factor. Being in a Gaeltacht area, there should be an expectation that patients be among other Irish language speakers. My apologies, as I nearly had a slip of the tongue and said "west Cork" a few times.”
“These campaigns have been progressed against the background of a limited pool of available candidates, which is reflected in the global recruitment challenges being experienced. In October 2024, West Kerry Community Hospital was approved to fill 4.3 WTE nursing posts. To date, one candidate has been recruited with a start date of April 2025. Once the full complement of staff has been recruited, the HSE will be in a position to open the remaining beds. The HSE is working to provide additional beds at West Kerry Community Hospital so that the hospital can provide an enhanced service for the local community. However, as I have already outlined, plans to increase capacity are dependent on appropriate staffing levels being in place and the outcome of ongoing recruitment campaigns.”
“West Kerry Community Hospital, in common with other health facilities, particularly in rural areas, can experience staffing shortages for a variety of reasons. However, the HSE constantly endeavours to mitigate staff deficits and ensure that safe staffing levels are maintained. I assure the Deputy that the current care ratio in West Kerry Community Hospital is consistent with that of all community hospitals and community nursing units across the country. There are currently a number of nursing and health care assistant vacancies in West Kerry Community Hospital and every effort is being made to fill these. HSE south west has progressed numerous recruitment initiatives at national and international levels to fill these positions.”
“The Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, understands the significant role that the hospital plays in the community and the depth of feeling associated with the facility. West Kerry Community Hospital is registered to accommodate a maximum of 46 residents and provides long-term care, respite, convalescence and palliative care. There are currently 42 beds open in West Kerry Community Hospital, comprising 35 long-stay beds and seven short-stay beds. All of these beds are currently occupied. West Kerry Community Hospital cannot admit any more residents at this present time, as the opening of additional beds is dependent on safe staffing levels, as the Deputy has quite rightly pointed out.”
“I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this issue. I know that in his term in the Dáil and prior to that as a councillor, he has very much been an advocate for community hospitals in Kerry, in particular the West Kerry Community Hospital. We know how important the community hospitals are. They are fantastic in the level of care and service that their patients and residents get. We need to protect them but we also need to ensure that they are working at full capacity. I hope that I can answer that question as best I can. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for older people, Kieran O’Donnell. West Kerry Community Hospital provides important and valued services for the people in the west Kerry area.”