Martin Daly ask about progress update on the Government's plan to increase inpatient hospital capacity by 4,000 to 4,500 new and refurbished beds. He sets out how many beds have opened, are under construction, at tender or design stage and explains the funding and staffing approach behind the rollout.
Immediate progress
Martin Daly hears that 292 new acute inpatient beds have opened across the country since the programme for government was agreed (January 2025 to June 2026). He names recent openings including University Hospital Limerick, Cork University Hospital, Beaumont and Mallow, and says the HSE anticipates opening a further 108 beds through late 2026 and early 2027.
Pipeline and funding
The Minister details 259 beds currently under construction, 185 at tender stage and 152 at detailed design, and confirms recruitment is underway ahead of bed openings. He links delivery to the enhanced NDP health allocation of £9.25 billion and a regionally balanced capacity expansion plan.
Demographic challenge
Daly highlights the demographic pressures driving the programme, citing projected growth in the over-65 population and evidence presented to the Health Committee. He warns beds alone will not solve future needs without parallel investment in prevention and primary care.
Beyond acute beds
The Minister emphasises the need for step-down, rehabilitation and community services, and commends local creativity in repurposing space for beds. He accepts calls for further capacity at specific hospitals while stressing value for money and the need to follow correct processes.
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Minister, I'd just like to ask you for an update in the plan to increase the capacity of inpatient beds to 4,000 to 4,500 across the country and if you'd make a statement on the matter. We know that we have 12,000 current public beds, 2,500 private beds, about 2.9 beds per thousand population. We also know that the SRI has predicted a need for a 40% increase in inpatient beds by 2040 and that the plan in 2024 was to provide 3,352 new beds. Thank you. Thank you Deputy. The Reuven for Government sets out, as you have said, a commitment to increase bed capacity by between four and four and a half thousand new and refurbished inpatient hospital beds across the country and they will be achieved through a regionally balanced capacity expansion plan. The substantially enhanced NDP provision for the health sector of £9.25 billion will support the delivery of those beds. To give you a much more specific update, 292 new acute inpatient beds have now opened across the country since the programme for government was agreed between January 2025 and June 2026, including 128 beds at University Hospital Limerick, 18 beds at Cork University Hospital, 15 beds in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, 20 beds in Beaumont, 24 beds in Mallow General Hospital and the HSE anticipates opening 108 more new beds over the course of quarter three and quarter four in 2026 and quarter one of 27. 259 inpatient beds are currently under construction including 97 beds at Wexford General Hospital, 42 beds at Sligo University Hospital and 30 beds at University Hospital Kerry and it is intended to open those beds obviously as soon as possible once constructed. In fact as you're aware we're recruiting ahead of the beds being delivered to make sure that the staff are there. A further 185 beds are at tender stage and a further 152 beds are now at detailed design stage. So we do see this bed-by-bed significant pipeline of projects progressing through earlier stages of planning, design and approvals and I just thought rather than giving you broad figures I would be very specific as to the progress that's that's being achieved. Thank you very much. We had the excellent Professor Roseanne Kelly, the TILDA coordinator in recently at the Health Committee and she pointed out the demographic challenge health-wise we're facing. We're going to face a million people over the age of 65 by 2030, a doubling of the number over 65s by 2057 to 1.6 million. We've already seen that trend come since to 2013 from 569,000 to 806,000. The reason why I bring those figures up is that that challenge is looming and obviously beds are not the silver bullet but they're going to be part of the overall way we manage health in the future, starting probably at 50 years of age with proper screening programs for the whole population, moving into better resourced primary care, step-down beds, rehabilitation beds. I would also support Deputy Sean Kynes' call on you to press for the 300 additional beds in UHG. This is a level four hospital operating with level three capacity. Thanks. Thank you Deputy. You will not hear any complaint from me by people pressing me to deliver more health infrastructure or to spend more capital money. I am doing my very best to spend my entire capital allocation as quickly as possible and I run the risk of spending other people's capital allocation if I can be so lucky or so bold because as you have said this infrastructure investment is absolutely essential for the future and while I don't wish to be flippant about it of course we must achieve value for money and we must take the correct decisions through the right processes but really we have to aggressively spend on health infrastructure in the right way to make sure that we're going to meet the very excellent challenge of having not just a growing population but an aging population. Some of my European health colleagues do not have that same wonderful situation as us but nevertheless it creates a very significant infrastructure challenge for us for the future. Thank you and I accept that answer and thanks very much for that update and I think it is important because sometimes people equate healthcare with hospital beds and that's not the reality. They cannot in isolation provide for the healthcare needs of the public and we will never develop enough capacity in bed unless we change the way we manage healthcare both in preventative and in primary care. We really do have to step up the number of rehabilitation beds, step-down beds, home care packages, primary care therapies and nursing home beds in the community but we also need to think more strategically in how we manage the population's health from 50 onwards and I think Rosanne Kenney made that very point to the health committee and I think Deputy Sherlock has already today pointed out that challenge as well because we were both listening to her very excellent presentation at the health committee last week. Yes Deputy, I agree and in particular the rehab beds, the step-down beds, the neuro rehab beds. I was in Blarney with Deputy Colin Burke to look at the step-down beds, the neuro rehab step-down beds that they have from Mercy University Hospital. Again, it was quite creatively done. It was a former hotel on a golf course and acquired and repurposed for this purpose and so we really are trying to be imaginative and innovative about where we can acquire space to be able to provide beds of every kind. I was in Talley University Hospital yesterday where they have found space within the hospital that already existed to repurpose for beds. I have been in hospitals where they are turning records rooms where patients records have been stored, plan to turn those into beds so people, the hospital managers are being creative where they can be at the moment but none of those things are going to equate to the scale of beds that we do need and we need this very significant capital program which I hope I've outlined in some way though. I do really recognize the challenge.
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