Michael Fitzmaurice demands NRH phase two funding timeline

Thank you Mr Comhairle. References made earlier to Independent Ireland, a vote in Europe and I want to put on the record that Independent Ireland issued a statement to make it very clear that they stand with the people in Limerick and surrounding areas who have large mortgages, young families and the facts are not out there yet of the percentages one way or the other and I want that on the record rather than innuendo being spread. After the National Rehabilitation Hospital, every one of us here probably have contact with it for the great work they do for people, be it in accidents or who get strokes or different illnesses to bring them back to full health. They have to be commended for what they have done down through the years for many families and phase one of their project was finished in 2020, which was actually brought in on budget and has been a huge success. Phase two of bringing add-on parts of it all together in a new build and phase three of increasing the number of beds from I think something like 125 to 220 or 230 is the third phase. Also, in the announcements, and to your own part, the colleague that announced it in 2018, Roscommon is to get basically a specialised unit to cover the west and north-west of 20 beds. And yes, there is satellite units at the moment, units that go out to be it in Mayo, be it in Galway and other counties right throughout the country. My question to you, Minister, is while it's acknowledged the huge work that's being done there, it is widely known now that people that are trying to get in there, there is six months basically minimum of a waiting list, which can be, you know, for people that need the help and the expertise that they give, can be a long time waiting and if you don't get in in time in some of this, you may have an adverse effect. I am asking you, Minister, when does the government anticipate and will the capital be put in to phase two and phase three? And for the unit that was to be built, the specialised unit to cover the west and the north-west that was announced eight years ago, where are we at in the line of making sure that that will complement the National Rehabilitation Hospital here in Dublin, that it would take pressure off it, and when will the beds be supplied in phase three here in Dublin? Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Last Councillor, I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for a very important and timely question in relation to the National Rehabilitation Hospital, and you will know, as we all do who embark upon constituency clinics and working in our community, how important a piece in the jigsaw of rehabilitation that the National Rehabilitation Hospital is, and critically what really points out is that the work that can be carried out with patients when you have early intervention after accidents or acquired brain injuries or traumatic experiences that people will have envisaged. So we're all very aware that phase one has now been opened, and opened three years after commenced in October 2017, and the facility represented a €129 million investment on behalf of the state, and critically the support operation of 120 new beds, phase two, will obviously deliver, and provide additional outreach to your own constituency and other constituencies around the country, which will be very, very welcome and very much supported. So I understand that phase two proposals are estimated to cost more than €200 million, and a strategic assessment is currently being prepared in accordance with the government's infrastructural guidelines, and you will note decisions taken over the last number of weeks to speed up capital infrastructure, with about €175 billion in infrastructure to deliver over the next decade, and it's critical that the government can carry out the assessments that underpin that growth, that delivery, on a timely basis. So currently the assessment is being prepared under the revised infrastructure guidelines, and as of now I'm not aware that the Department of Health have received the final assessment to give it the go-ahead as of yet, but I'll be very much aware, and I will bring your comments to the Minister for Health, how important this facility is, and how important a piece in the jigsaw that the National Rehabilitation Hospital has been for so many patients that have, as a result of an accident, illness, injury, physical or cognitive disability, how critical it has been in their rehabilitation, and in many cases bringing people back to operating functionally in society, again, which is so, so important. And under the investment plan we know that the Department of Health has record capital expenditure right now to support citizens right across our country in really delivering a world-class health system, and while we have a lot of work, a journey to go, this will be very to the forefront of my mind anyway, the NRH will be, and I will absolutely make Minister Carol McNeill aware of your concerns, and hopefully under the new revised infrastructural guidelines that the report will be delivered in a timely manner, and critically we go on with the body of work of delivering phase two of this much-needed facility. Thanks Minister, there's one thing though that we do need to know, will the Department and indeed the Department of Finance, because that's who's going to be giving out the money, I think it's important that they engage with the people involved in the rehabilitation hospital, but the one thing we hear about assessments and assessments, the reality of it is, and you are well aware of this, that it's now six months, say for some people, before they can get in the doors to get on the road to recovery, and while they may be in step down services before that, trying to help them as best they can, you need the expertise, especially what they can do in the National Rehabilitation Hospital. The question I would have for you is, could you put a timeline on when phase two would be funded and started, because I think all the parts to it are done by our funding, and could you put a timeline when, for the West and the North West, Roscommon specialised units would be put in place? Thank you, and I would see that as a matter of urgency, and I know in tandem that the Department of Health are currently preparing a business case, and obviously it has to do that through the infrastructure guidelines, and as you quite rightly point out, the demonstration of the improvements that the facility can make for people the earlier you get intervention, and I think that's critical, and from the work that I have seen the hospital do, particularly for those who have been involved in very traumatic experiences. So I will raise with the Minister of Health your concern in relation to outreach in Roscommon as well, and I will be confident that Capital and Estates in the Department of Health will make this decision quickly, because it shouldn't be about funding. We have a very significant war chest of £175 billion over the next decade to deliver public infrastructure. The critical thing, and the Government has experienced that, is spending the money, getting the money spent, getting it into the bricks and mortar, and ensuring that we can get it through the process quickly, and if one thing we've learned over the last number of years, we have to get a lot better at delivering public infrastructure. We've set the guide rails to do that. We spend about £19.1 billion this year, that's up 54% in two years, and that demonstrates the real ambition of the Government.