Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation Dail Éireann — 2022-04-27 ============================================================ Colm Burke (FG), Cork North-Central There are 740,000 people over 65. Within eight years, it will be 1 million people. Some 50% of all hospital beds at any one time are occupied by over-65s. What review of policy will be undertaken to ensure we have an adequate number of hospital beds over the coming years? What progress is being made with regard to the elective hospital in Cork? The report on this has gone to the Minister for Health. My understanding is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform also has to sign off on it. Here we are, still without a site identified or a timescale. Even if it was announced in the morning, the Taoiseach must accept that it will take us three years at least before a sod will be turned, unless we make a decision on this matter. What is the timeframe for the announcement and building works? --- 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/2022-04-27/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:22+00:00 Sitting date: 2022-04-27