Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-16
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Alan Kelly (LAB), Tipperary North

I thank the Taoiseach for that, but he has to answer the question. Will the capital allocation for the Department of Health - HSE capital spending - be increased dramatically to deliver the project? It cannot be delivered at the moment. This decision cannot be executed. It is impossible. There is not enough money there, particularly if we look at the existing commitments relating to elective hospitals and everything else.
In reality, option B should become option C. That is the quickest and best solution for the people of the mid-west. I respect that the Minister will never want to discuss sites, and rightly so. What we should do is acquire a site and deliver option B and then wrap option C around it in stages in future years. That is what the mid-west really needs. I encourage the Government to provide a capital plan to deliver that, along with the upgrades to Nenagh and Ennis, including pathway changes, diagnostics being moved and everything else. Ultimately, unless there is an increase from the Department of public expenditure in relation to the capital provision for the HSE, with the best will in the world, the Minister cannot deliver this without the money being given by the Government.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-16