Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2025-10-15
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Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG), Dún Laoghaire

As I said when I was in the hospital in Limerick, all three options are being considered. Naturally, our priority is the acute in-bed capacity, which is what HIQA identified as the priority. We are trying to progress that. A total of 96 beds were opened this week. While that will not take 96 people out of the emergency department, because some people will stay for three, four or five days, I see it having an impact on trolley numbers already in the past seven days. There is a reduction but it will not eradicate the overall number on trolleys. What will do so is the next 96 beds and the beds to come after that. Thankfully, we got planning permission last week for the next 96-bed block, which is really important. We will have essentially doubled the number of beds in the region between 2020 and 2028. We are considering all three options, as I said very publicly on Monday in Limerick in front of everyone, including the media.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-10-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:13+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-10-15