Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 12 Jun 2024

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. I thank the Minister of State and while I appreciate this is not his Department's area, my experience of him is that he always goes back and advocates very strongly on my behalf and that he fulfils his word and commitment to Members. I really appreciate it and am delighted to see him here this morning.

In the aftermath of Covid, the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Department of Education identified correctly that the mental health and well-being of children had deteriorated across the State. The best way forward was to put in place well-being and mental health supports in schools throughout the country. I thought that was brilliant, that it was the right place for it and that having councillors available within the school would be a fantastic way forward. Then one would have a position whereby a problem in a child's life does not blow up into a crisis because direct intervention goes on there and then.

It was my understanding that in a number of budgets, we provided the funding for that. There have been pilot schemes and I know they are rolled out in a number of counties and, I understand, in Dublin 7 and in Dublin 11. The piece I cannot understand is that we have DEIS schools where we provide hot food because we recognise that those children, more than anybody else, need to be supported and assured that they can focus on their education and their personal development. Yet, we have a whole plethora of those schools who do not have any of these well-being and mental health supports.

While there is the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, it is at a higher level and not every child needs an educational psychologist. There are children who just need somebody to chat to if they have something going on at home. They need something additional to deal with the stress. I see it with my own daughter if we are running late in traffic the stress she encounters is something else. Children perceive stress at very different levels to us as adults. The little things, such as having someone to talk to, are really important and yet this has not been rolled out.

I note that in April this year, a tender was put out for a programme to be developed and provided but that sounds like an awfully long way off. That is not something that will start in September. While I was out canvassing, I came across a most wonderful woman in Drimnagh who received training, is professionally qualified and would be a fantastic play therapist. When she went to the local school in Drimnagh, she was told that while the school was aware of what the Minister had said, the reality on the ground was there was no funding to engage her.

I seek an explanation and a timeline on that. When are children going to get these supports? Another one of my campaigns, as the Minister of State knows, is that we enforce the digital age of consent in respect of children on smartphones. Children literally are being left to their own devices, when one reads the CyberSafe Ireland statistics. What happens if children see something online and they cannot say it to their parents? They are in need of those supports.

At the moment, I am dealing with a number of cases of racial bullying that are just horrific and I am supporting those families. That child goes to a school where there are no supports. They are relying on teachers who are already quite challenged in their jobs and already trying to be everything to a child as well as giving them a great education. I feel we need an update and maybe we need a campaign arising from that to hurry this up. I am looking forward to what the Minister of State is going to say.

I thank Senator Seery Kearney for raising this important matter. This is a debate I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. The particular area of well-being falls under her direct remit. This debate gives me an opportunity to update the House on the mental health supports for primary and post-primary schools provided by the Department of Education.

As always, Senator Seery Kearney is up to date on where things stand but I can certainly add a few elements. As the Senator said, this is something that the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and the Government are absolutely committed to doing. That has been acknowledged by the Senator. In June 2023, after coming into government, the Minister launched a €5 million pilot scheme of counselling and well-being supports in primary schools in selected counties, complementing the excellent work that schools already undertake in the area of well-being. This was alongside other services provided by the State through the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, the HSE and CAMHS, which have already been referenced.

Counselling in primary schools has two strands. Strand 1 sees direct counselling supports being provided to primary schools for the first time. The Department of Education has set up county panels to pre-approve private counselling, which will allow for one-to-one counselling in primary schools in the counties of Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary. In total, 778 blocks of counselling have been allocated to schools in the pilot counties, which provide for an allocation to 778 children. To date, 36 counsellors have been recruited across the seven pilot counties.

Strand 2, which is an area that the Senator focused in on and which is also up and running, is the introduction of education well-being teams. In schools in Cork and Carlow, and in particular in Dublin 7, there is a focus on providing support to pupils, parents and schools, especially primary schools. Fifteen education practitioners have been recruited to the four cluster areas to carry out an extensive training programme provided by NEPS. As this is a pilot, it is not possible to include all schools. An evaluation is being commissioned to review both sides of the pilot. Through the pilot evaluation, the Department is confident that it will gather valuable learning that will inform future policy and provision in this area.

The Senator made specific reference to DEIS schools. It could be communicated directly to the Minister, Deputy Foley, that the pilot should have a specific focus on such areas. I spoke about this with the officials in the Department in advance of this debate. They are looking to get that pilot under way later in the year. Separately, to supplement support for post-primary schools, the Minister of Education has published a tender that relates solely to that area of education. The tender is for the purpose of procuring services that further support well-being and mental health in post-primary schools, and working with the Department to develop and deliver additional supports to complement existing systems and structures. The priority is to adequately support students, parents and school staff. The tender contract will be awarded soon and will commence by July 2024. That is the progress taking place in the post-primary area. Strands 1 and 2 are under way within primary education.

A dedicated well-being portal can be accessed via Wellbeing in Education on Gov.ie, bringing together the extensive well-being and mental health supports and resources that have been developed by the Department of Education and the Department’s support services. I note the point the Senator has raised. To recap, strands 1 and 2 are already under way for primary schools and there is a subsidiary tender going out for post-primary. A review of the pilot will take place this year. I note the points made and there are matters I will bring back to the Minister for Education. I look forward to the Senator's comments.

I thank the Minister of State for the additional preparation he always does in advance of taking a Commencement matter. I appreciate the need for standards. I see that we have those through the Minister of State's reply; of course we do. When we look at the figures, we see that 100 hours of play therapy could be provided for eight children at a cost of €6,000. It is small money in a school. The parents cannot afford it themselves. If they could afford it, their child would not be in a school where they need a hot meals programme. We are getting caught up in the technicalities of a formal programme that is rolled out and has to have a pilot and to be assessed and overseen. I agree with all of that because there are charlatans operating under the guise of psychologists' titles, but we need effective programmes very quickly for the well-being of children. While there is a portal, that portal will rely on parents having to pay for it. We need a mechanism for establishing these programmes. I ask for that message to be brought to the Minister. That is what I am going to campaign for.

I thank Senator Seery Kearney for her contribution. I note that she is looking at the programme in a very structured fashion. The Senator will appreciate the fact, as she has already referenced, that there is a need for an evaluation both on a qualitative and a quantitative basis. That will take place. The Senator raises a very interesting point in terms of play therapy and the hours being provided. I have no doubt it is a matter that she will put serious thought into, in terms of polishing it. It is something I am sure she will bring up with the Minister, Deputy Foley. I will bring her comments directly to the Minister today on the specific matters raised.

I thank the Chair. I know he is familiar with the area given his own connections. I thank the Minister of State for taking this important question. Being from Kildare - I am Kildare to the core - I am in touch with the different issues that impact on the members of the Defence Forces and their families. I often take the opportunity in this House to talk about some of the larger issues within the Defence Forces, such as the need for a cultural transformation, the inadequate pay levels, the lack of investment and the recruitment and retention difficulties. However, there are some other issues that we might consider small but which make a big difference to the quality of life of members of the Defence Forces and their families and indeed those in the surrounding areas.

Within Kildare, we have a huge lack of public swimming pools. There is an excellent one in Athy and another in Naas which is in mid-Kildare. The commitment that has been made for over 20 years is that the next public swimming pool will be in the north of the county. The people living in very large towns such as Newbridge, Monasterevin and Kilcullen and the hinterland all around them do not have access to any public swimming pools. In talking about this, I am also saying that the schools in those areas do not have access to a swimming pool. Prior to Covid, many of the local schools were able to access the Curragh swimming pool, which is a very fine swimming pool. The last investment in it was 20 years ago, when €2 million was invested. At that stage, the arrangement was made that not just those serving in the Defence Forces but also their families and the families of former serving Defence Forces members, could use it. It was a great asset to them. There also were some swimming clubs. Since Covid, however, it has not reopened to the schools, family members or to the former serving officers and this has caused a lot of tension. This was solidified when a small public pool attached to a guest house was bought privately, meaning it is no longer accessible to the schools. I have done quite a bit of background work on this issue and have received commitments from the Tánaiste, who informed me that access works started on 15 September last year. This is really good to know.

The agreement was that reopening access to those who did have the opportunity to use it before would be dependent on access issues and redoing the changing rooms. The work started in December and I understand that new lifeguards have also been sought. It is really important that we are clear about our timelines because at this point, more than four years have gone by without access. I do not want to give commitments that are not going to ring true. I am asking the Minister of State for an update on these works. When will the pool open? When will we have the opportunity to extend beyond the families and schools that were using it previously? Members of the public should be able to use this pool. It is a very fine facility and we need to be able to share the sporting facilities and assets we have in the county and particularly in the Curragh area.

Before I call the Minister of State, I would like to welcome our guests today from North Dublin Muslim School and their teachers. You are all very welcome. You have come to the Seanad at a point where we are doing our Commencement matters. This is where individual Senators submit items of interest or topics that they have a particular interest in and a Minister comes in and responds. The Senator has four minutes to speak and the Minister has four minutes to respond. They then each get one minute for a further reply. I hope you enjoy your visit to the Oireachtas today.

Exactly. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Deputy Micheál Martin. I thank Senator O'Loughlin. I can see how important Kildare is to her. The Tánaiste asked me to offer his apologies on his behalf to the House. He welcomes the opportunity to respond to this matter and thanks the Senator for her question.

The swimming pool in the Defence Forces Training Centre, DFTC, in the Curragh is an important Defence Forces asset and, as she knows, has previously been offered to local schools and community groups for use. That is one of her specific questions. I am advised by the military authorities that the use of the swimming pool was restricted from March 2020 due to Covid 19, in line with Defence Forces and national protocols. The swimming pool facilities are being upgraded in a project managed directly by the Defence Forces under the devolved €11 million building programme. Earlier this year approval was given by the Department of Defence for these upgrade works, and the contract was awarded to Dunne Building Services Ltd. The Defence Forces, as direct managers of this project, have advised that the project will be completed in the coming weeks.

The work involves an improvement to the changing rooms, entrances, and internal fabric finishes. Overall, it will ensure that the DFTC swimming pool is fit for purpose and compliant with the relevant health and safety regulations and fire safety standards. The works will also ensure that the facility meets national child protection guidelines in order to ensure that it is suitable for civilian use. The reopening of the pool to other users is being considered in the context of current operational and training requirements and the necessary resources required to maintain the facility. In particular, in order to proceed with any plan to open the pool to other users, the refurbishment of the changing facilities will need to be completed. In addition, civilian lifeguards are now being recruited to bring the staffing levels up to the required levels. A competition for lifeguards was advertised on publicjobs.ie in May, and the latter stages of the competition are ongoing, with interviews planned for next week. Once sufficient resources are in place, and following completion of all outstanding refurbishments, it is hoped that the swimming pool will re-open in the third or fourth quarter of the year. The policy with regard to third party usage will be examined and implemented in line with these timelines.

I thank the Senator again for this question and would like to assure her that it is the intention of the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence to ensure that, subject to the operational needs of the Defence Forces, the swimming pool is offered, where possible, to local schools and community groups.

I thank the Minister of State for the good news. It seems that we are ahead of schedule and that makes a very welcome change. I completely agree that the swimming pool is an important Defence Forces asset but I maintain that it should be an asset to the community. People in the Kildare and Newbridge area are very much part of the Curragh community and work very well together. I welcome the news that it is ahead of schedule and that we will have it reopened to the schools and groups that used it previously, including the family members of current and past members. However, I ask the Minister of State to bring the message back that the opening of the pool to other users should be considered. I appreciate that there has to be a protocol and a process and that the operational needs of the Defence Forces come first. However, it would be hugely important and welcomed by the whole community, Kildare sports partnership and the educational community of Kildare if we were able to ensure that the local schools and residents had access to the facility.

I again thank the Senator for raising this very important matter of an update on the upgrade works on the swimming pool at DFTC in the Curragh. She will be well aware that there is a long-standing policy in the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces to allow third-party access to Defence Forces properties to support local communities and to raise the profile of the Defence Forces among the public.

This policy extends to a large number of groups and activities, including GAA clubs, soccer clubs and numerous community groups throughout the country. As I have stated, it is the intention of the Tánaiste and Minister of Defence to ensure that, subject to the operational needs of the Defence Forces, the swimming pool at the DFTC is offered, where possible, to local schools and community groups. That is the intention and that is a positive. The investment undertake in the swimming pool complex underlines the Government's commitment to enhancing and improving the built infrastructure of the Defence Forces. Some €56 million has been allocated this year to improve the facilities where members of the Defence Forces eat, sleep, work and train.

Obviously, we very much value the work of the Defence Forces. I would like to reassure the Senator that this will remain a key priority and this is demonstrated by the priorities the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence has set out in the strategic framework.

I welcome the Minister of State. I am back here for the fifth year in a row, with the same request for funding from the Department to cover the loss of rates revenue at Lough Ree power station. As the Minister of State knows, Lough Ree power station in Lanesborough - similarly to Shannonbridge in County Offaly - was due to close in 2027. However, both plants closed in 2020, seven years earlier than expected. The rates base of Lough Ree power station for Longford County Council is €1.25 million. A recommendation from the just transition commissioner stated:

It would be extremely unfair in circumstances over which these local authorities had no responsibility and for a decision which was not expected until 2027 that they should be burdened with this sudden loss. I recommend that an urgent engagement takes place with the Chief Executives of the councils concerned with the funding Departments so that a suitable emergency arrangement can be agreed to alleviate the rate losses over the period 2021 to 2026.

No agreement has been put in place for that whole period. Every year there is uncertainty in the local authority regarding this funding. We are now at the time when budgets and figures are being put together for 2025 and the council has no confirmation of guarantees that the funding will be in place. Every year since 2020 I have come here to try highlight this issue and to make sure the council can get the funding put in place so that it can put proper budgets together for the year ahead. This will allow it to ensure that it is in a position to service whatever capital projects need to be done. More importantly, there are a significant number of projects in the various communities throughout the county. When I was a member of Longford County Council, we were the first local authority, ahead of the 2019 local elections, to take a decision to increase the LPT charge by 15%.

It was the first county to do so. Why did we do it? It was because we wanted to get projects into our county. Funding streams were available. The council had to pay a 10% contribution towards these grants. We felt that by doing so we could ring-fence that money solely for those projects. That is what we did at the time and we have got significant multiples of millions of euro in grants from the European Regional Development Fund, ERDF, CLÁR, the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, ORIS, and all the various town and village schemes that have been put in place, especially by Department of Rural and Community Development. Every part of our county - every town, village and community - has benefited from it, but we cannot plan ahead to be able to service the loans we have taken out to get the moneys for those projects without some certainty. I do not understand why, every year, we have to come begging to get this money and are sometimes told in late October that the money is in place while budgets are finalised in October, as we all know, in every local authority. I want certainty for 2025 to 2026 at a minimum and then we would look at a system where perhaps there would be a sliding reduction of those rates. They would be tapered off over a number of years. As a small county, €1.2 million is actually 15% of Longford's rate base. We cannot take a hit like that. If we are to provide proper services, whether library or fire services, we have to service loans with those significant grants. I want guarantees that funding will be in place for the next few years.

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien. I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to outline today the funding and Government support for local authorities, with particular reference to Longford County Council.

The Minister acknowledges the current financial environment in which all local authorities, including Longford County Council, are operating, but specifically the negative impact on the commercial rates income caused by the closure of Lough Ree power station in Longford. It is recognised that the now closed power station was the single largest ratepayer in the county and accounted for approximately 15% of the commercial rates in 2019. To alleviate the negative impact of the closure, the Department has provided compensatory funding to the local authority at a cost of €1.4 million in 2021 and €1.3 million in 2022 and again in 2023. The Minister is pleased to confirm that this arrangement will continue in 2024, with support of €1.3 million being secured for this year. However, it should be noted that any allocations from the Local Government Fund can only be confirmed annually as part of the Estimates process. That said, it is intended that a similar allocation will be sought in the Estimates for 2025 and 2026.

The Government continues to make significant contributions to the local government sector each year, with €466.2 million secured for 2024 from the Local Government Fund. A large portion of this figure, €331.5 million, will go towards assisting local authorities with the cumulative effect on pay costs arising from the previous Building Momentum pay agreement and the most recent national pay agreements. This allocation will ensure that the sector will have the necessary resources, in terms of people, to perform its functions and provide essential public services to our citizens, which are in excess of 1,000 services.

Longford County Council received €3.1 million in 2023, with a provisional allocation of €3.47 million assigned for 2024. The 2024 allocation is to further increase following the most recently ratified pay agreements. The local property tax allocation to Longford for 2024 will be €10.7 million and this will include €8.26 million of equalisation funding from the Exchequer. It should be noted that following the LPT baseline review, Longford’s baseline has increased by €1.5 million to €10.4 million. All local authorities have the opportunity to increase or decrease their basic rate of LPT by up to 15%, as Senator Carrigy stated. The Minister would like to acknowledge the elected members of Longford County Council for taking the decision to increase this rate by 15% for 2023 and 2024. This upward variation on what is a relatively low base will lead to more than €300,000 in extra income for 2024, which will be of great assistance during the year.

The Minister is very aware of the financial challenges facing the sector and, in recognition of the ongoing pressures, additional support of €60 million was secured to assist the sector in 2023. The purpose of this additional funding was to assist Longford County Council and other local authorities in meeting the increasing costs, in particular increased energy costs, involved in providing a wide range of services. Longford County Council received €660,000 in this regard.

I will conclude by referring to the Government supports to Longford since 2020. Across all schemes and funding sources, the Department provided €30.7 million in 2020, €48.5 million 2021, €36 million in 2022 and €52.9 million in 2023 to Longford County Council. Included in this is the unprecedented level of support provided by central government to local authorities during 2020 and 2021 in respect of the Covid-19 pandemic. A review of the LPT was completed by a working group in 2023 and the baseline for 2024 has been adjusted in accordance with the recommendation of this group. Furthermore, funding was secured to ensure that each local authority received a baseline increase of at least €1.5 million. As a result, Longford County Council's baseline increased from €8.9 million to €10.4 million in 2024.

On the Senator's specific question regarding the loss of commercial rates with the closure of Lough Ree power station, it should be noted that any allocation from the Local Government Fund can only be confirmed annually as part of the Estimates process. That said, it is intended that a similar allocation will be sought in the Estimates for 2025 and 2026.

To conclude, the purpose of this interim funding is to alleviate the unprecedented and unexpected loss of commercial rates in the period to the end of 2026, in line with the recommendation of the just transition commissioner. I have been assured that the Department will continue to engage with Longford County Council in this regard.

The Minister of State is welcome. I thank him for taking this Commencement matter. I received correspondence from the Department of Health last night to suggest that no Minister or Minister of State was available and I understand that. I thank the Minister of State for stepping in at the last minute.

I will address the issue of surgical hubs. For those who do not know, they are located on the sites of Mount Carmel Community Hospital in south Dublin, Swords Business Park in north Dublin, Merlin Park University Hospital in Galway, Cork University Hospital, CUH, in Cork, University Hospital Waterford, UHW, in Waterford and also in Limerick.

Before continuing, I will take this opportunity, given that the Minister of State is a Limerick man and did great work on the Mayor of Limerick election, to congratulate John Moran on his amazing success. He deserves to be acknowledged. I thank the Minister of State for his work on the directly elected mayor for Limerick. Well done to all involved.

There is a proposal to have one of these surgical hubs in Limerick. A planning application was lodged for the development of the hub at the former Scoil Carmel. I do not know what the status of that is and I ask the Minister of State to address it. I would also like him to address Mount Carmel. These surgical hubs are excellent. Their primary focus is to deal with relatively simple procedures, perhaps not day cases, but most likely it will be to address day cases, and get moving on the massive backlogs in surgery. I welcome that and the proposals for Mount Carmel. Will the Minister of State fill us in on those? There is also a proposal for a surgical hub in Swords Business Park. The people there want and need one as the area is growing rapidly. Hubs will be interchangeable. People with particular needs may be directed to another hub. They are not necessarily servicing the immediate community, but the greater part of the greater strategy of need. I welcome that.

Planning permission for the hub at Merlin Park Hospital was granted so the tendering process is now the issue. People, including Fine Gael public representatives at council level as well as TDs and Senators, are asking what is the status of the tender process.

Then there is the issue of the planning application lodged for the CUH and the enabling works for that site. Again, there is uncertainty. Where is all that going? I will conclude by talking about Waterford. A planning application was lodged for a hub in Waterford, which I welcome. I looked at the application yesterday. HSE estates seeks to establish a surgical hub that will comprise four operation theatres, and procedure rooms are included in the scheme. Morning and afternoon sessions are envisaged with 150 patients accessing the facility daily. That is very impressive. A maximum of 100 staff will be employed at the hub and it seeks to provide 311 car parking spaces to facilitate moving to this hub. Again, that is impressive and I acknowledge the enormous work my Independent colleague, Deputy Shanahan, has put in here and the work of others to push this forward.

I commend the Government on these six exciting surgical hubs, which are badly needed. I also commend the Minister for Health and all those involved, including the project managers and teams, but we need to get through the planning processes and the tendering processes and have timelines and deadlines for construction and completion. This is a really good news story but I do not want us to be here in six or 12 months asking where we are on this. They need to be proactively pushed forward. I am interested to hear what the Minister of State has to say.

I join Senator Boyhan in congratulating John Moran on his election as the first directly elected mayor of Limerick and commend all candidates who took part in a very engaging and constructive debate. It put Limerick city and county to the fore national and internationally. I want to acknowledge the cross-party support in the Seanad, as well as in Dáil Éireann, when I brought through the legislation for the directly elected mayor. People were very engaged and we took on quite a number of Opposition amendments and that underpins the role of the directly elected mayor of Limerick.

Returning to Senator Boyhan’s question, I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. I am delighted to be able to provide an update today on the development of surgical hubs. The Government is fully committed to the continued improvement of elective care in Ireland, delivering better and more timely services for everyone. There are a number of ways in which this is being achieved.

Government policy on elective care has been informed by a number of policy documents including the 2017 Sláintecare report and implementation strategy, the 2018 national development plan, the 2020 programme for Government and, most recently, the national elective ambulatory care strategy agreed by the Government in December 2021. This strategy will change the way in which day case, scheduled procedures, surgeries, scans and outpatient services can be better arranged to ensure greater capacity in the future and help to address waiting lists at a national level. The development of additional capacity will be provided through dedicated, stand-alone new elective hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin.

We have seen a range of innovative care solutions developed locally. With regard to elective care, the Minister for Health was particularly impressed by the Reeves day surgery unit at Tallaght University Hospital which significantly reduced day surgery waiting times for patients. I am delighted that this surgical hub model is being rolled out nationally by the HSE in the interim before elective hospitals commence delivery.

As the Senator noted, six new surgical hubs are under development and I will provide an update on each today with the most recent information I have from the HSE. The surgical hub in south Dublin will be the first to open. It will be located at Mount Carmel and construction and fit-out are already underway and progressing well. Building completion of phase 1 is currently on track to be delivered for this August. Funding for ICT has been approved and recruitment has commenced.

The surgical hub in north Dublin is to be located in Swords. Construction has commenced and a building superstructure is in place. Recruitment will commence in due course. We expect the remaining hubs in Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford to become operational throughout 2025 and early 2026.

With regard to planning, the site at Maypark Lane, adjacent to University Hospital Waterford, received planning permission in April for the new surgical hub. Site acquisition has now concluded, allowing works to commence.

Notification of a decision to grant planning has been received for the Cork, Limerick and Galway hubs, located at Cork University Hospital, Scoil Carmel and Merlin Park, respectively, and I expect planning permission to be granted shortly. Pre-commencement conditions are progressing well for these sites.

I hope that the Senator can appreciate the significant work that has gone into the planning and establishment of these new hubs. Once operational, the hubs will treat more than 150,000 patients each year, providing a significant increase in our elective care capacity. By providing dedicated facilities, we can protect capacity for elective care, but we can also free up capacity elsewhere in the system for those other more complex and emergency cases to be seen in a timely fashion.

I hope the Senator will agree that these new facilities will provide significant and material benefits for all the people of Ireland. I know how important it is to public representatives across Ireland.

I acknowledge that very significant progress has been made on these sites. It is slow and unpredicted issues always crop up but they are all under way at some level, whether it is the finalisation of planning, the tendering process, contract documents and so on. We are realistically talking about 2025 or 2026, as the Minister of State said, for three hubs at least. It is very significant progress. I thank him for the detail and information that is in his response, which I value and appreciate. I wish the Department officials and the project team leaders every success. This is a really good news story. The message is to keep on time lines, keep delivery going and keep telling the public about this plan because it will be received positively.

Again, I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this important question today and for the opportunity to give him an update. We all desire the same thing, to provide a world-class service in Ireland. In south Dublin, the building is at phase 1 and on track for delivery in August. Funding has been approved for the surgical hub in north Dublin in Swords and construction has commenced. Recruitment will commence in due course. We expect that the hubs in Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford will be operational in 2025 and early 2026. They are proceeding at pace. The Dublin hubs will be open soon.

The Minister has asked for the delivery of surgical hubs to be expedited. I am sure that everything is being done to put them in place as soon as possible. We will welcome Members' support. There are clear benefits from these new world-class surgical hubs. I assure the Senator that this Government remains committed to ensure that the best quality elective care is available to everyone in Ireland through the delivery of these world-class surgical hubs.