Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 17 Nov 1998

Vol. 496 No. 6

Adjournment Debate. - Hospitals Building Programme.

Mr. Kenny

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter. The Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt, has shown great interest in this issue and has been working on it for some time. However, the problem lies not with the Department of Health and Children but with the Department of Finance.

Phase two of Mayo General Hospital is now a long running saga. In May 1994, the then Minister, Deputy Howlin, established a project team. In July 1995, as Minister I announced approval for 33 beds for the orthopaedic services. In February 1996, the brief was approved by the then Minister, Deputy Noonan, when he visited the hospital. He agreed at that time to establish the CT scan facility and in June 1996 the design team was appointed by the Minister.

In November 1997, the planning process was completed and the board advertised for contractors and sub-contractors for inclusion in the list of tenderers. In February, the board was ready to invite tenders but it was not approved by the Minister, Deputy Cowen, until May 1998 when he visited the hospital. The Minister promised that work would be well under way before the end of this year. August 1998 was the closing date for the receipt of tenders and in September 1998 the recommendation for acceptance of tenders was sent to the Minister. Three months later approval is still awaited.

Nobody would wish that an internal audit required by University College Hospital, Galway, should mean a delay in the provision of beds in phase two of Mayo General Hospital. Can the Minister of State explain the reason for a delay of almost one year from the time tenders were ready to be invited in February 1998 and the acceptance of the recommended tender by the Minister? A capital allocation of £2 million for this project was made in 1998. Will this money be unspent, given the current situation in the Department? I am anxious to receive a Government commitment that there will be no delay, other than what is necessary, before this project commences.

I emphasise that the delay is not in the Department of Health and Children, but in the Department of Finance. That is because of the running cost envisaged for the hospital, the vast majority of which is associated with the orthopaedic unit which is much needed. This phase two facility will provide decent hospital facilities for the people of County Mayo well into the next century. It is long awaited following the provision of phase one. I await Minister Moffatt's reply with interest. I hope there will be no further delay and that work will commence before the end of this year.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Dr. Moffatt)

I am glad to have the opportunity afforded to me this evening by Deputy Kenny to bring the House up to date on the current position in relation to the phase II capital development at Mayo General Hospital.

As the Deputy will be aware, in May of this year my colleague, the Minister, formally conveyed approval to the Western Health Board to invite tenders for the appointment of a contractor and sub-contractors for this major development at an estimated construction cost of £22 million. The process of inviting tenders is an involved one which requires strict adherence with the relevant EU legislation. Having completed this process, the health board, as awarding authority, formally sought the approval of the Department of Health and Children to the acceptance of tenders for the phase two development, as recommended by the project design team, in September last.

This application for approval has since been under careful evaluation in my Department and the Minister is currently awaiting the completion of this process. The Deputy will appreciate the fundamental importance of this process of detailed evaluation where an investment of public funding on the scale involved in this is project is concerned.

The Deputy will also be aware of the strong commitment of this Government to the achievement of regional self-sufficiency within health board regions in the delivery of acute hospital services, through the provision of strong networks of regional and local general hospitals. The planned development for Mayo General Hospital is a key component of this overall strategy.

Taken together with the major £40 million phase two development under way at University College Hospital, Galway, and the significant developments at Portiuncula Hospital, Galway, and Roscommon County Hospital, the planned Mayo development is an essential element of the concrete manner in which this Government is acting out its commitment to the development of hospital services in the west.

This approach to structuring the delivery of hospital services is consistent with the principle of equity that underlies the national health strategy. As the Minister has said on previous occasions, a system which requires people to travel to Dublin for services which could and should be available to them within their own region is not one which equitably serves their needs.

These major hospital investments, under way and in planning, in the western region will transform the capacity of the hospital services there to meet the needs of the people to the enormous benefit of all. This has been made possible by the decision of this Government to significantly increase the level of capital investment in the health services over that provided under the previous Administration. The capital programme secured by my colleague, Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Cowen, for the next two years amounts to £155 million in 1999 and £165 million in 2000.

From my experience as a local public representative, I am acutely conscious of the important role of Mayo General Hospital in the social fabric of the county. I am also well aware of the health and social needs of the population there that arises from the particular geographic and demographic factors pertaining. I am particularly aware of the need for orthopaedic services.

This awareness has shaped my own strongly held conviction that the major phase II development being planned for Mayo General Hospital is essential to the proper addressing of the health and social needs of the Mayo people through the provision of a range and quality of services which have been long required.

I am proud, in my time in Government, to have been associated with the significant progress which has been made on the planning of this major development to this point. Upon completion of the necessary evaluation process being undertaken, I look forward, with Deputy Kenny, to the ultimate fruition of this detailed planning work which has been well flagged in the recent Health Estimates, to which he referred.

The minor temporary problems at the Regional Hospital Galway will not have any adverse effect in regard to Mayo General Hospital. I assure the Deputy that any moneys in the general health service will be used up this year. There will be nothing left over. In fact, there will be a need for a Supplementary Estimate.