Mental Health Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-21
============================================================

Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

I thank the Deputy. The frustration that many people feel I have felt as well for quite a while. When it was announced initially in 2020 or 2021, we were in the middle of Covid. It was then held up for three years by the clinicians. At the time, I was very frustrated with them but I agree with them now. They did not want the new approved centre, the new department of psychiatry in UHW, to be, as was proposed, on the site adjacent but not connected to it. It is now going to be connected.
I have allocated over €40 million for capital projects this year, including for the next stages for the acute mental health unit at Waterford. The project will move to design feasibility this quarter when a design team will be appointed for the new unit. Most importantly, because of delays, we are now moving from a 50-bed unit to a 60-bed unit. There is going to be an extra ten beds for psychiatry of later life. We have an ageing population and it is really important for people who have enduring mental health conditions, as they age, that they would also be able to get those supports if needed.
It will be built immediately behind the Dunmore Wing, which the Deputy knows very well. He visited it with me previously. It will come out immediately behind the Dunmore Wing as part of the department of psychiatry that is there at the moment. The current car park will be lost but I spoke to the general manager of the hospital about that and he said it was a small price to pay for this new development. We expect it is going to cost in the region of at least €50 million. I met with HSE estates recently in St. Otteran's campus. I was visiting psychiatry of later life there and we went through it. We can discuss the other pieces shortly. The good news is that the design team will be appointed very shortly, I am hoping in the next few weeks, and we will finally make the progress. The funding has been provided.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-21