Today, trolley numbers in University Hospital Limerick have again exceeded 100, exceeding ten hospitals on the east coast of the country. With the recent announcement by the Government of a new accident and emergency department for Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, I am hopeful that we will soon see movement towards a second accident and emergency department in Limerick. When does the Government expect to receive final advice from HIQA on emergency care capacity in the mid-west? Will the Government commit to facilitating a Dáil debate on this as soon as those findings come in? UHL, as we all know well, is the only model 4 hospital not supported by a model 3. I welcome the work the Government has done on consultants and weekend rostering to deal with delayed discharge.

I have been told to expect that report from HIQA in May. I have no further details beyond that. We always debate matters in the Dáil, so there is no difficulty with that. I would point out two things. The Deputy is right about Limerick. It is under particular pressure. The opening of the 96-bed block is absolutely essential to alleviate that pressure. Other than that, there are sites of considerable concern that cannot be explained in the same way. I want to call out St. Vincent’s hospital in particular as well as Tallaght, Cork and Galway. I mention St. Vincent’s in particular. I am doing a detailed analysis of the rostering in these hospitals. To give the Deputy comfort, I would point out that Limerick is the only hospital that is consistently providing the correct rostering over the weekends and has very significant increases in its discharges as a consequence. However, it is stuck on capacity in terms of beds in particular, and the 96-bed block is absolutely crucial. I expect that to be delivered in September.