Cork dental school cancellation
Deputy Barry raises concern over the cancellation of a new dental school and hospital in Cork, citing ageing facilities and waiting lists. The Tánaiste says several capital priorities compete for funding but the Government is open to considering the project.
Yesterday, Mr. Fintan Hourihan, chief executive of the Irish Dental Association told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health that he found it profoundly worrying that a decision was made to cancel the building of a new dental school and dental hospital in Cork. A new dental school and hospital would bring a multiplicity of benefits. Number one, it would be a big improvement on the current dilapidated, 40-year old building on the CUH campus. Number two, it would increase capacity for treatment at a time of long and growing waiting lists. Uimhir a trí, it would increase capacity for more graduates at a time when they are badly needed. Number four, it would free up space at an increasingly crowded CUH campus. There is still an existing planning permission in place at a greenfield site in nearby Curraheen but it runs out in August. This underlines the need for urgent action. My question is-----
Comment on this
I am familiar with the issue. A number of bodies are involved in this. The Deputy mentioned the HSE and CUH. University College Cork has priorities in respect of a range of capital investments, involving the Cork University Business School, CUBS, building, the Tyndall National Institute and others, including the dental school. It is regrettable that given the prioritisation of the dental school and the work that has been done on it to date, that there has been a pull-back from it. The Government is open to seeing what can be done but within the overall capital allocations, there are very substantial projects on the agenda. The dental school has, unfortunately, fallen down the priority list. We will see what we can do in this regard.