Today I highlight a protest that happened in Limerick on Tuesday of this week. Nurses and midwives staged a lunchtime protest over what their union said are unsafe staffing levels at University Maternity Hospital Limerick. The INMO said between 30 and 35 front-line posts were cut at UMHL with the implementation of the pay and numbers strategy in 2023. That has left the hospital, which was already under significant pressure, in what they describe as a catastrophic state. Those are their words. They have told us the neonatal unit is beyond safe capacity in staffing and that the labour ward has deficits of midwives on duty. They have called for an expansion of the neonatal unit to meet demand.

Once again, I will highlight a healthcare issue in Limerick. Last week, I spoke about the consultant numbers there of 59 consultants per 100,000 population versus the national average of 82 per 100,000 population. The week before I highlighted the shortcomings in dental care through the school dental system. Only one in five eligible schoolchildren were called for the school dental programme in 2023. This week it is our nurses and midwives. We have a significant healthcare worker staffing crisis in the mid-west. I call on the Minister to come to the House to address this matter at her earliest opportunity. I also support the nurses and midwives in their protest, and I support their call for an expansion of the neonatal unit. I again ask if the Minister will please update us on what is happening with the proposed project board that is to be put in place to develop the site at Raheen for expansion of facilities at the regional hospital, which could potentially include new maternity hospital facilities in Limerick.