Mental Health Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-21
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David Cullinane (SF), Waterford

I raise these issues to illustrate the point that when announcements are made, people expect things to be delivered and then ask how quickly they will get them. If there is an announcement regarding additional health capacity, that is really good news. It is exciting, and people want it. When people hear about the announcement of an additional 60-bed ward block over five storeys at University Hospital Waterford but then do not see it and when I am putting in parliamentary questions and cannot get answers on the timeframe for it to happen, that causes frustration. There was a clear announcement of a proposal for a two-floor vertical extension with all of those consultation and treatment rooms to come with it. We are now being told there is a change to that. We still do not know what that means and when the facility will be built, which also leads to frustration.
It is the same with the multi-storey car park. In fact, it is the same with the mental health unit as well. I do not doubt that the Minister of State is pushing these issues; I accept that 100%. All I am saying is that there is frustration that when announcements are made by local Ministers or senior Ministers, they then seem to either fall off a cliff or take far too long to go anywhere. That causes frustration, particularly when we cannot get answers to parliamentary questions when we table them.

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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