Jennifer Carroll MacNeill
Dún Laoghaire · Fine Gael · Ireland
“It will be provided by a registered pharmacist in accordance with the relevant pharmacy legislation, including this Bill. Section 2 of the Bill makes various amendments to the Irish Medicines Board Act and the Pharmacy Act. Those amendments ensure that whole legislative framework is cross-referenced correctly.”
“We now have a common conditions service where you can go to a pharmacy instead of a GP to get a diagnosis and prescription for eight basic conditions like conjunctivitis or urinary tract infections - the kind of things that just come up in people's lives all the time. We would like to expand more and more what pharmacies can do.”
“In particular, the board will be focusing on aspects of menstrual health, on aspects of postpartum mental health, particularly in traumatic birth cases, on something we have overlooked for some time, which is endometriosis, on women who are finding it difficult to access services in different ways, as Senator Harmon suggested, and on more…”
“The extension to 41- to 45-year-olds could possibly be €5 million to €8 million because there are statistically fewer women in that bracket trying to conceive, so the numbers are higher. It really is a question of funding. I remind Senators that they have also asked me to fund various other programmes.”
“That followed confirmation from the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Health Products Regulatory Authority that the patch and ring are classified as medicinal products, not medical devices. That is just a correction there.”
“That is why we have put so much money into supporting them in different ways, including the conclusion of a €50 million increase to their fees and to provide for the opportunity to raise private funds in this way, for example, the common conditions service. I want to see pharmacists doing more.”
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“That level of variation is not acceptable and is avoidable. We must do better. We are driving, I hope, lasting improvements in urgent and emergency care, although there is significant variation. I track hospital figures daily and have identified that Waterford is continuously performing well and that other hospitals, Tallaght, for example, are improving greatly. UHL, which the Deputy just referred to, is one of the best performers regarding weekend discharges. The way in which the hospital is organised has seen enormous improvements in the emergency department, but it simply does not have enough beds. I will be opening 96 beds in UHL on Monday. I hope to see the Deputy there. We have a plan for an immediate response for acute inpatient beds, but the needs of the region are more complex.”
“To meet this demand sustainably, we must be more efficient and consistent across all health regions. As a result, we are investing €984 million in acute and community services and recruiting new staff. That will help to deliver 26 million home support hours, expand five over seven working, open another 500 beds, complete surgical hubs in four regions and roll out up to 150 additional virtual beds across five hospitals. For 2026, I am focused on making care easier and faster to access. While improvements are evident, regional variation remains too high. For example, in the mid-west, 98% of urgent breast cancer referrals are seen on time, while in the west and north west, it is just 39%. In the south west, 74% of audiology patients are seen within the 52-week target compared with only 48% in Dublin and the midlands.”
“Today marks the first of the Government's five health budgets. With it comes a clear commitment to invest in a health service that meets people where they are and when they need it. Our priorities for 2026 are clear: regional equity and access; reduced waiting times through productivity and increased capacity; and safe, high-quality care. The health budget will grow this year by €1.5 billion, reaching €27.4 billion. That includes €25.8 billion in current expenditure and over €1.56 billion in capital investment. We will fund 3,300 additional staff, bringing the total HSE workforce towards 139,000. This increased investment reflects the demographic shift we are facing. The over-65 population has grown by 41% since 2015 and demand for services, especially for older people and new medicines, is rising.”
“We are trying to build a service that not only responds to those who need it most, but does so in a way that puts the patient at the centre because pharmacists are trusted and rooted in every community they serve. We are trying to expand their role in healthcare generally to provide for better accessibility, safer, quicker prescribing and, obviously, the management of drugs, particularly through the unused drugs scheme, as is necessary and appropriate. I am pleased to provide the details of the agreement to the House.”
“The Department will progress a number of regulatory reforms over the coming months to improve efficiency and free up capacity in community pharmacy. The community pharmacy agreement marks a significant milestone in strategic collaboration between the Government, the Department of Health, the HSE and the IPU. It sets out a comprehensive and ongoing pathway to modernise and expand the role of community pharmacy, to enable community pharmacists to work at the top of their expertise and to increase accessibility within our healthcare system more broadly. The agreement will support the delivery of safe, equitable and efficient healthcare, and ensure that community pharmacists are better equipped to contribute to national health priorities through engagement, sustainable funding and integrated service delivery.”
“In the context of the overall agreement and settlement package, the State has also secured key commitments from community pharmacy relating to reform, modernisation and the digital agenda, which is something we spoke a good deal about at a health committee meeting yesterday. This is imperative as the full participation of community pharmacy is a critical factor, as we all know, in the successful delivery of these State-sponsored reforms. The agreement will provide the basis for community pharmacy and IPU co-operation with the full ehealth agenda, including the national eprescribing programme, shared care record, HSE app, electronic health record, etc. As these programmes advance and roll out, the co-operation of community pharmacy will be a critical success factor.”
“Currently, the dispensing fee is a tiered structure when fees are paid based on the number of items dispensed in a month. The top tier will increase from €5 to €5.60 for the first 1,667 items dispensed, which is an increase of 12%, the middle tier will remain at €4.50 for the next 833 items and the final tier will increase from €3.50 to €4.10 for any further items, which is an increase of 17%. This new dispensing fee structure will be backdated from 1 September for all community pharmacy contractors who sign up to the new agreement. My Department is progressing the necessary legislative changes to enable this.”
“This shift requires upskilling and formal recognition of support staff roles to maintain safety and efficiency. To support improved training capacity, the annual training grant for pharmacies will be doubled from 2026 onward. The grant will increase from €1,270 to €2,540 per pharmacy. Additionally, a contribution of €500 per pharmacy will be made available to support the purchase of mandatory reference texts. It has also been agreed that the core dispensing fees across the community drug schemes will increase by 10% overall. That change will apply to the following schemes: the general medical scheme; the drugs payment scheme; the long-term illness scheme; the European Economic Area scheme; and the Health (Amendment) Act.”
“The HSE will commission the service with each pharmacy being required to participate. This service will commence in the second half of 2026. I will speak about the emergency medicine administration preparedness allowance. To recognise that community pharmacists are authorised to administer emergency medicines, that this service is provided on an ad hoc basis at the moment requiring pharmacists to be trained and ready to respond, and the disruption this may cause to pharmacy practices when they administer emergency medicines, we have provided an annual recurring allowance of €525 that will be made available from 2026. On training, education and development, as the scope of practice of community pharmacists widens, so too does the need to develop and empower pharmacy support staff to ensure the success and sustainability of these changes.”
“This fund will support the establishment of a proof of concept for the use of point of care testing, POCT, in community pharmacy for respiratory illness. It is anticipated that this would evaluate the role of POCT in reducing GP attendances and, importantly, unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics. It will be a control measure. On unused medicines return and disposal, enabling patients to safely return their unused medicines to their local community pharmacy restricts access to unused medicines, thereby reducing harms to the environment, the risk of accidental poisoning in children and the risk of suicide or self-harm. A new national service will be established, which will enable people to return their unused medicines to their local community pharmacy. A sum of €4.5 million is being allocated for this.”
“That will be implemented following the necessary training and various changes to legislation. The national condom distribution service distributes free condoms and lubricant sachets to services working directly with population groups who may be at increased risk of unplanned pregnancy, HIV or STIs. As part of this agreement, the service is now extended to community pharmacists who will identify potentially at-risk patients and provide them with relevant products. It has been agreed to establish a rolling annual medicines optimisation programme, with a dedicated annual funding allowance of €4.5 million from 2026. This yearly budgetary allocation is ring-fenced for community pharmacy delivered optimisation programmes.”
“On oral contraception prescription continuation, the continued supply of short-acting reversible contraception by community pharmacists is being progressed in parallel with the common conditions service. That will allow pharmacists to continue a prescription for oral contraception meaning patients can, in effect, have their prescription renewed by a pharmacist rather than reattending a GP. Pharmacists will be required to do various health checks as part of the protocol. Operational guidance will be provided to pharmacists shortly and information will be provided to the public in due course. For those within the eligible age range, this service will be integrated into the free contraception scheme and pharmacists will be paid a fee by the State for this service.”
“Private patients may continue to go to their GP as normal or choose to attend the pharmacy and pay a consultation fee, which I expect will be of a lower order than the GP fee. It means much faster access for prescribing, where appropriate, for basic common conditions, including basic bacterial infections such as urinary tract infections or conjunctivitis. By enabling people to choose to use the pharmacy instead of their GP, should they wish, we hope to expand access to this primary form of healthcare in this very basic way making life slightly more convenient when accessing the basic prescriptions we all need from time to time. I very much hope it will be in place by the end of quarter 1 2026.”
“However, medicines will be reimbursed by the State in accordance with a person’s eligibility under the community drugs schemes. Patients, including medical card holders, who choose to access the common conditions service, will pay a consultation fee at the rate charged by the pharmacy. Patients, including medical card holders, who choose to access the common conditions service, will pay a consultation fee at the rate charged by the pharmacy. To incentivise its establishment, a once-off grant of €2,000 will be provided to pharmacies that commit before 1 December 2025 to establish the service by the end of quarter 1 2026. The huge advantage is medical card patients can continue to go to their GPs as normal, or they may choose to go to the pharmacy and pay a consultation fee.”
“On the common conditions service, which is the area of real excitement and real opportunity for people, since the publication of the final report of the expert task force to support the expansion of the role of pharmacy, my Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders to implement the recommended common conditions service. This service will enable community pharmacists to manage common conditions by offering self-care advice, safety-netting and, when appropriate, supplying certain over-the-counter medicines and prescribing prescription-only medicines through established protocols. Pharmacies will be enabled to establish the common conditions service from late 2025. Pharmacies will be entitled to charge their patients a consultation fee.”
“There is a substantial opportunity for the State to improve the delivery of schools' immunisation and its efficiency through the support of community pharmacy. Service models, fees, legislation and data protection matters need to be addressed as part of this programme of exploration. An enhanced immunisation fund, with a dedicated annual funding of €2 million, has been ring-fenced from 2026 onward. This will be used, in the first instance, to facilitate the participation of community pharmacy in the school immunisation programme and to scope out their potential participation in other national vaccination programmes, as appropriate.”
“Pneumococcal disease is a bacterial infection that can lead to significant morbidity and mortality, particularly amongst the very young, the very old, those with impaired immunity and those with anatomic or functional asplenia. Prevention of disease through vaccination is now more important than ever. To support increased vaccination, it has been agreed that community pharmacists can administer the PPV23 vaccine to healthy over 65-year-olds. For medical card holders, pharmacists will be paid the same fee as GPs. It has also been agreed that the IPU will positively engage with the HSE, exploring how community pharmacy could take on a substantive role in schools' immunisation. A programme of work will be developed to explore the scope and nature of this.”
“As Deputies will be aware, we have a screening programme and we do not have sufficient uptake within the existing cohort, so we have to look at every mechanism we can to expand uptake. I hope that this will be a measure that makes it more convenient for people to engage in the programme and get the bowel screening that they need. On the immunisation programme, the training and competence of community pharmacy as medicines experts must be fully utilised. Community pharmacists administer one in every three vaccinations under the influenza and Covid-19 vaccination programmes. The opportunity for an expanded pharmacy role in immunisation has been an important stream of dialogue within the talks.”
“They will do this through promoting the programme at population level as well as enhancing access by supporting individuals to participate in the programme. It is, therefore, another point of contact for the programme, which we want people to take up. Pharmacies will be enabled to identify eligible patients, based on age, proactively invite the person to participate in the programme, register them on the programme and order the faecal immunochemical test, FIT, kit. A model of service and ICT upgrades are required before this service can be launched in the second half of 2026. It has been agreed that pharmacies will be paid €5 for each person registered by them for the BowelScreen programme. In addition, an annual €500 allowance will be given to each pharmacy that supports BowelScreen promotion. This is really important.”
“It covers a wide variety of key issues in community pharmacy and provides for the participation of community pharmacy in new services, including bowel screening; immunisation programmes; common conditions service; oral contraception prescription continuation; national condom distribution service; medicines optimisation, commencing with point of care testing; and unused medicines return and disposal. I will speak about each of these issues in turn. On bowel screening, community pharmacists and their teams, as really, genuinely trusted healthcare professionals, can play an important role in supporting increased uptake of the BowelScreen programme, which is an area where we have a concern.”
“The programme for Government set out our commitments and ambitions for community pharmacy. It recognises the significant potential for the enhancement of the role of community pharmacists in providing accessible health services. The community pharmacy agreement 2025, in various ways, materially contributes to the delivery of these commitments and our vision for a sector that can grow and expand its services to support patients and build capacity in our health services. The agreement is comprehensive and extensive.”
“This agreement marks a new chapter for community pharmacy in Ireland, and I thank the IPU for its collaborative approach to these negotiations. Its officials have been strong advocates for their profession, and this agreement demonstrates what can be achieved when we work together in partnership. We know patients want timely access to care in their own communities. That is why, particularly at an acute hospital and community level, I am putting such an emphasis on productivity and the importance of consistency for our patients as they engage with our services. We must do better, and we can do better. Strategic shifts in approach, like the community pharmacy agreement, will mean that we are better utilising our existing network and freeing up capacity in other pressured areas of our healthcare services.”
“It built on the work done by my officials and by the IPU through a series of ongoing engagements and meetings since mid-2023, addressing themes such as the role of community pharmacists, pharmacy funding, service expansion, administrative complexity and digital enablement. This agreement supports commitments to expand pharmacy services, provides new investment in the sector and supports value for money and modernisation and digital reform. It will support investment of €25 million in 2025 for fee adjustments and service establishment; €50 million in 2026 for full-year implementation, training optimisation programmes and new services; and €20 million in repurposed existing community pharmacy funding.”
“That is why on Friday 12 September, I and officials in my Department were really pleased to complete the community pharmacy agreement 2025 with the IPU and the HSE recently. On that same date, the union's governing committees endorsed the community pharmacy agreement 2025, and on Thursday 18 September, I published the agreement. This is the first national agreement with community pharmacists since the original contract was established in the early 2000s. It follows intense negotiations throughout the summer, between the Department of Health, HSE and IPU. I thank all of the parties that were involved and that engaged so intensively to enable the conclusion of this agreement.”
“We in the Dáil have already seen that in areas like vaccination, when we ask our community pharmacists to get involved, they step up and the result is increased access for patients and the alleviation of pressure in other areas of our health services. Budget 2025 provided for free hormone replacement therapy, HRT, medicines and related products for women for the treatment of menopause and also a separate allocation of €50 million - the full year cost in 2026; pro rata in 2025 - to support investment in community pharmacy and the commencement of fee negotiations with the IPU. In this context, in May of this year, I secured an agreement with the IPU to deliver the HRT initiative, alongside free dispensing fees, along with an agreed framework of engagement to commence contract talks with the IPU.”
“I am happy to update the House on the recently reached community pharmacy agreement and to take an opportunity in this House to recognise the very significant role that pharmacists play in delivering a more accessible and integrated health service across the country. Shortly after becoming Minister for Health in January, I began engaging with the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU. It was the first representative body I met, and we clearly set out an ambition together for the future of community pharmacy. When I spoke at the IPU conference in Kilkenny, again, we set out my vision for sustainable reform and expansion of services to future-proof pharmacists’ role in health services through diversification and service expansion.”
“This is a body of work that has begun and that we will sustain and develop over time. We are trying to seriously improve things but there is a long way to go yet and I fully acknowledge that.”
“We do not want women to get to the point where endometriosis is right throughout their bodies. It is important to recognise that it is not simply a gynaecological issue. It can present right through the diaphragm. I have met women who have had endometriosis in their shoulders, eyes, brains, right through their colon and it is a very serious, painful condition. The pain management specialists and supports need to be improved, as does the quality of the surgical capacity. I do not say this to be critical of surgeons but it is just simply not there yet. I know that surgeons have leaned in to wanting to have better collaboration and fellowships with the centres of excellence that exist around the world, although there is not enough of that yet. We are certainly not there yet and we need no congratulations of any kind in relation to this.”
“I recognise that and indeed, they have told me that. For many women, because of the complexity of imaging and diagnostics and the complexity of reading MRIs, we do not have sufficient consistent capacity in this State to that reliably. That is an area that I am trying to develop, both in facilitating international experts coming here to provide additional training and longer-term fellowships and pathways for improvements in diagnostics. I also acknowledge the advances in AI that will facilitate this over time. I have been researching that as well but nevertheless, there is a significant body of work to do. I would say the same regarding surgeries and the complexity of same, including in relation to excision over ablation. I recognise that is a clinical issue but we must move to a model where we are capable of doing very complex surgeries.”
“Of course, the most important point and what is so important in relation to the GPs is that women are the most reliable narrators of their own experience. I need to say it again: women are the most reliable narrators of their own experience, not just on this but on everything. I am absolutely sick and tired of women not being listened to and not being heard. Part of the change with regard to GPs is to operate on a presumptive diagnosis piece and to really listen to women about the complexity of symptoms that can be there that are not necessarily menstrual. There can be constipation, UTI and a whole range of things that are not necessarily presenting as a menstrual issue. All the Deputies are correct in what they say about the quality of diagnostics and surgery. Many women are getting an inadequate service at present.”
“I thank the Deputy. Our thoughts are with Aisling as she goes through her treatment programme. On endometriosis, I want to acknowledge the many different groups that have engaged with endometriosis sufferers and the importance of all of that advocacy work. It was a step change to invite women to come into the Department when many of them feel that the Irish health system has so badly let them down. It was difficult for many women to come in and do that but we had to bring that experience right into the heart of the Department, for it to be heard very loud, very proud and right at the centre of policymaking, and to have the HSE there as well. I acknowledge how many different people have already said that.”
“It is just as prevalent as other very common conditions, and should be as prominent in GP surgeries and should be understood by GPs. The HSE has also planned a GP practice update and a specific endometriosis awareness campaign.”
“I will update the House as soon as I can. The HSE has created a different email address specifically to assist women with that service to try to streamline their experience within the HSE, which is important. An endometriosis group, with patient advocates and women's health task force members, has been set up. International endometriosis experts will now be invited to collaborate and engage with our own clinicians for better learning, diagnostics and surgical expertise. I yesterday approved a letter to all GPs, consultants and other relevant healthcare professionals to go alongside the framework, which is an effort to raise awareness of endometriosis. It is affecting many women, perhaps as many as one in seven. By that, I do not mean one in seven people but one in seven women.”
“Nevertheless, I am conscious of the quality and nature of surgery, which is an issue we can discuss again, and the need to increase surgical skill everywhere. This condition is misunderstood or too little understood everywhere. The increase to surgical skill must happen internationally and also in Ireland. I have also provided funding for an additional colorectal surgeon. That position has been advertised. The role will be an important part of facilitating more complex surgical treatments. The HSE is also providing additional support for women within the treatment abroad scheme. It has in the past been too difficult for women to access funding to get effective surgeries internationally. I have a little more work to do in that regard to look at the different international programmes that can be supported.”
“On 5 September, I received an initial plan from the Department and officials from NWIHP. On 15 September, the HSE CEO advised that a working group had been established to develop the plan. On 18 September, I updated those who attended the patient voice forum. On 22 September, I approved the revised national framework for endometriosis and a letter for GPs to go alongside that framework to help advance awareness. On the details of the plan, the HSE will, crucially, increase the number of surgeries to be done this year. Some 600 surgeries were done in the first part of this year so you would expect 600 to be done in the second half of the year. I have required that an additional 100 surgeries will be made available in quarter 4 of this year and have provided funding for those surgeries.”
“I was also in attendance, as were the CEO of the HSE, the chief medical officer, the chief nursing officer, the head of the national women and infants health programme, NWIHP, and all of the senior clinical team. We were not there to participate but simply to listen to the women. We were there for quite a number of hours listening to their experiences. Their voices have directly influenced changes in the completed framework. I am glad we had that interregnum to enable their voices to come into that space and be heard. They have directly changed the language and some of the direction in the framework, as well as the communication of it. I am glad that opportunity arose and I thank each woman who shared her personal experience. Following the forum, I mandated an immediate action plan.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 87, 97 and 101 together. I thank the Deputy. Endometriosis has been under-considered by all of us, including the Department of Health and the HSE, but a significant body of work has happened in recent months. I am pleased to say that the national framework for endometriosis is now ready for publication. I am conscious that the budget is next week and we are trying to find the appropriate moment to publish the framework. It has developed and changed considerably, with significant additional patient voices now included. On 1 September, a patient voice forum was held in the Department of Health with 60 to 70 patients, comprising girls and women who were in difficulty or who had had difficulties and had successful surgeries abroad.”
“I have also met the different professions to signal clearly that we will be aligning ourselves with the European standards to enable even greater numbers of people to come from different parts of Europe to work in Ireland. That has not happened in the past at the rate we should have seen. CORU is working hard with the professions to ensure that clinical training places are available not just in acute hospitals but in primary care and other areas as well.”
“I thank both Deputies. There are an additional 320 new training places via the CAO in the different colleges. That is a significant expansion. I will speak to my good colleague the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless. My responsibility is, of course, in respect of the clinical training places that must go alongside the academic piece. We moved from a sort of apprenticeship model of nursing to an academic degree model to try to lift standards and expertise as far as possible, and enable the sort of advanced practice we want across the specialisms. We are now trying to do that with health and social care professionals too. I have met representatives of CORU about its registration processes, which, frankly, were too slow. There has been an enormous improvement to those processes.”
“We are developing a primary care therapy waiting list management protocol, the purpose of which is to ensure consistency and transparency during referral, waiting list management and discharge across all primary care in the different regions to improve overall patient experience. We have seen this used in other areas to good effect and it is now time this be properly used for primary care therapies.”
“I thank the Deputy. He might allow me to reflect on that and discuss it with my officials further. What we are trying to do to build capacity in primary care therapy services is this three-part national programme, which I will lay out for the Deputy. Workstream 1 is an analysis of regional productivity to optimise current therapy care to maximise capacity within existing resources. Frankly, there is variation between regions and we need to understand specifically what that variation is and have a national response that prioritises patients who have been waiting over one year for therapy access.”
“The Deputy will be aware that since January 2020, 5,019 additional therapists have joined the HSE, a 30% increase. In that time, 40 additional therapists have been recruited in the Cavan and Monaghan area, bringing the total to 177. The Deputy will be aware that includes 12 new occupational therapists, 14 physiotherapists, 7 dietitians and 3 speech and language therapists, demonstrating our commitment to strengthening front-line capacity. I still acknowledge the concerns the Deputy raised and remain committed to targeted reform in the way I have given direction to the HSE CEO.”
“That would be a massive improvement on where we are now. It would remove 60,000 people from the waiting lists across these three therapies and get them therapeutic services. That is a challenge but unless we set a direction and a target, which I have very clearly given to the HSE CEO, I am concerned nothing will change without some direction and the resources and support to do that. I do acknowledge that we have global workforce challenges, the same as everybody else in healthcare. We are trying to advance initiatives to retain and recruit the skilled professionals we need. Recruitment efforts include offering permanent roles to all Irish HSCP graduates, streamlined registration with CORU, which has improved enormously over the last number of months, and the introduction of 320 new training places via the CAO.”
“I agree with the Deputy. While in 2024, nearly 1.4 million people accessed therapy services across disciplines including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, psychology, podiatry and all of that, in many cases waiting times are wholly unacceptable. To tackle this, the Department of Health is working closely with the HSE on a targeted, programmatic approach to managing therapy waiting lists in primary care, in particular. As well as looking at the longer term changes that are needed, we are trying to do what is possible right now. I have asked the HSE CEO to now put in place measures to address physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy waiting lists to reduce the waiting times for these three therapies to less than 10 months, which I hope will be achieved.”
“To the extent the Deputy can help me maintain that pressure, nothing will change in Galway with trolleys or across the west and north west until consultants are routinely rostered at weekends, as is happening in other hospitals.”
“That seems perfectly reasonable and that is what I would do too. As the Deputy has saved me the background, I will save her reading out all of the trolley figures. I will highlight that unless Galway hospital, and the west and north west generally, start to routinely roster consultants on the public-only consultant contract at the weekends, they will continue to have the trolley difficulties they have had. It is very important. A total of 73% of University Hospital Galway's consultants have taken up the public-only consultant contract but the hospital was not able to confirm to me, at an important meeting on this on 11 September, the percentage of those who are routinely working extended days and at weekends. I will be meeting the team again in January and I expect it will have an update for me on their weekend rostering.”
“It recently moved the outpatient department to the facility in Merlin Park but it has recently changed its model of delivery to three-hour slots, three sessions a day, from what had been a two-session model, and that is providing an additional 60 clinical sessions every month. That is a really important and significant change for the people of Galway and for the management of the hospital. The Deputy will be better aware than I am that construction of the surgical hub is well under way. It is expected to be completed in quarter 1 of 2026 and to be operational in quarter 2 of 2026.”
“It is a master plan that is developed sequentially. The Deputy can see the complexity of the work that is going on there with the diversion of underground services. It is incredibly complex work. Deputy Connolly knows the site a great deal better than I do, of course, and it is an old site that requires considerable development work. The last thing I will do is place a timeline on it. I just want to see things progressing and I hope that by the time the Deputy asks me this question on the next occasion, unless of course other matters have taken over, I will have a further update on the business cases. I will make a couple of important points about how Galway hospital is improving in a couple of other areas because it is important.”
“Beyond those, there is another tender to appoint an integrated design team for further works, which will conclude by the end of 2025, with further design work starting in early 2026. A tender is under way for construction of a new electrical energy centre to enhance campus resilience and support future developments there.”
“The phased transfer of outpatient services from UHG to Merlin Park continues, with phase 1 of the outpatient department block now operational and phase 2 at design stage, which will unlock a portion of the campus. The initial scoping and site investigative works at UHG for various enabling works was recently completed. Site clearance works have already been undertaken to begin to clear the site for the first of the new 150-bed ward block. These include the removal of all above-ground prefab and solid structures on the footprint of the proposed development site and the diversion of a number of underground services. The old neurology building was recently demolished following the relocation of this service to Merlin Park. Further enabling works are currently at detailed design stage and will proceed to construction in early 2026.”