140. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update with regard to the staffing of the new community hospital in Ballyshannon; if he is aware that the delay in the opening of this state-of-the-art facility is serving to put undue pressure on medical professionals and facilities in other hospitals in the north-west region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8121/24]

As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.