Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 22 Feb 2001

Vol. 531 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Hospitals Building Programme.

Mr. Penrose

I wish to share my time with Deputy McGrath. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this topic which is important to both of us.

This is an important issue for the people of Longford and Westmeath. Deputy McGrath and I have raised it on numerous occasions. Deputy McGrath has raised it at health board level also.

A commitment was given many years ago that the hospital in Mullingar would be upgraded to a major infrastructure and state-of-the-art hospital to accommodate the population of Longford and Westmeath. When phases 1 and 2A were completed, everybody anticipated that phase 2B would be equipped and staffed. While I accept that there were changes in respect of the infrastructure, it should not have taken two years to implement minor architectural changes. The people are seething with anger. They are of the view that they are being left behind, that there is foot-dragging and passing of the buck. It was the health board's responsibility. The matter is now with the Department of Health and Children.

I want simple answers. Has the review of the brief been completed? Has all the information been submitted by the health board? I understand it has. When will the design team be appointed? Can the architectural team be appointed contemporaneously with the appointment of the design team? That is the only way this project will be expedited. Otherwise, there will be more foot-dragging. The people are rightly angry.

Eight or nine months ago we thought the Minister for Health and Children was bringing good news, but he was engaged only in a public relations exercise. We thought the design team would be in place, that the architectural team would have been appointed and that various other steps would have been taken. As Deputy McGrath mentioned when raising other issues in public, three accident and emergency consultants, on a temporary basis for 12 months, were appointed to Tullamore. I call upon the Minister to stop foot-dragging and let the people of Longford and Westmeath know exactly what is happening. There is a need for phase 2B to be fitted out and completed without further delay or procrastination.

Mr. McGrath

I thank my colleague for sharing time with me.

Phase 2A of Mullingar General Hospital which provided for a new accident and emergency unit, an X-ray unit, out-patients department and so on was completed in July 1997. Full commissioning was completed in September 1998. This phase included a five-storey block which was to have been fitted out at a later date to provide much needed extra beds for this busy hospital. Unfortunately, we have a white elephant, a five-storey block standing empty.

The Department has been dragging its feet on this issue for a long time. Reluctantly, to quell the anger of those encountered by Fianna Fáil candidates in the run-up to the local elections in 1999, the Minister appointed a project team to take the development of the hospital to the next stage. The team was approved in May 1998 and presented its recommendations to the Department in February 2000. The project was publicly launched in May 2000. Deputy Penrose and I attended the launch. The project team recommended a range of new and extended facilities for Mullingar Hospital, including a rehabilitation unit, a large obstetrics unit, additional ICU and CCU facilities and a range of other ancillary services. These facilities will extend Mullingar Hospital from its present complement of 197 beds to a much larger hospital with 283 beds.

At the launch of the project, the expected timescale was outlined for the development. Approval of the brief was to be completed in June 2000. This was expected to be done quickly because there were four officials of the Department of Health and Children on the project team. The appointment of a design team was to be completed by December 2000. Development of plans and final design were to be completed by December 2001.

The schedule is almost one year behind because of the Minister's delay in not delivering to County Westmeath. He seems to be actively working against developments in Mullingar by appointing three accident and emergency consultants to Tullamore, ignoring the busiest accident and emergency unit in the midlands and giving £500,000 to expand and enhance breast cancer services in Portlaoise, contrary to decisions taken by the Midland Health Board to develop Portlaoise and Mullingar in parallel. The Minister has overruled the decision of the health board. He is ignoring the health needs of the people of Westmeath and Longford and presiding over the downgrading of Mullingar Hospital. The people will not tolerate it and will shortly be on the streets protesting. I ask the Minister of State to bring a strong message back to the Department. The Minister must deliver in Westmeath and get on with the job quickly.

Ms Hanafin

I thank Deputies McGrath and Penrose for raising this matter. The then Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Cowen, approved the establishment of a project team in May 1999 to commence the planning of the phase 2B development at Longford-Westmeath General Hospital. In keeping with normal practice, the project team was asked to prepare a written design brief for the development of phase 2B taking into account the considerable detail involved in developing a brief of this kind. The original brief for the hospital development indicated that phase 2B would include the following departments: pathology, theatres, general medicine, general surgery, administration services, isolation facilities, staff changing and rest rooms. The urgent requirement for an acute psychiatric unit on the site was highlighted subsequent to the development of the brief.

The brief, dated 10 November 2000, was received in the Department of Health and Children on 16 November 2000 and officials in the Department were given the task of processing the brief to facilitate bringing it to the next stage. In a letter, dated 10 November, from the chief executive officer of the Midland Health Board, which accompanied the brief, he expressed the view of the project team that in the event of additional national development plan funding or other capital funding being made available, the outstanding departments not now included in phase 2B, namely, rehabilitation unit, child and adolescent psychiatry, occupational therapy, catering department, day services, other than surgical, should proceed as part of the phase 2B contract. A further letter, dated 10 January 2001, from the secretary to the Midland Health Board to the Secretary General at the Department indicated:

At its December 2000 meeting of the Board, members unanimously adopted a motion calling on the Minister for Health and Children to give a firm commitment on the inclusion of the I.C.U., C.C.U., Rehabilitation Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Occupational Therapy Department, Catering Department and Day Services in Phase 2B of the Longford/Westmeath Development.

The additional accommodation is a substantial additional cost of the phase 2B proposal for which the project team was appointed. The Department will consider these additional proposals in the light of the availability of funding under the national development plan, 2000-06.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 27 February 2001.