Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 October 2025
194. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health if she is confident that the 4,000 to 4,500 new and refurbished inpatient hospital beds across the country that have been committed to in the programme for Government will be delivered by 2029; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52427/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis Government is committed to delivering additional inpatient capacity for our Health Service. Capital investment is critical to achieve the ambitions of Sláintecare and the Programme for Government 2025.
In July of this year, Government published the National Development Plan Review, the largest ever capital investment plan in the history of the State. While sectors of energy, water, transport and housing are prioritised, the updated NDP provides capital allocations to Departments across Government to fund a range of social and economic infrastructure priorities. Building on a strong track record of infrastructure delivery and significant increases in capital expenditure in recent years, the substantially enhanced NDP provision for the health sector of €9.25 billion 2026-2030, agreed with the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation) , will support the delivery of equitable, accessible and high-quality healthcare across Ireland. This funding will deliver a range of health strategic investment priorities including in-patient capacity across our hospitals aligning to the ambition of the Programme for Government. In addition to the NDP funding I secured and to ensure the continued successful delivery of the NDP and Programme for Government commitments, M/PEIPSRD also provided assurances that should there be underspends evident in the overall NDP allocations in year, these will be considered for allocation to Health.
The NDP funding envelope will support the progression of key health sector priorities across the sector and the country including progressing and delivery of acute bed capacity projects. The HSE is planning this additional capacity aligned with the In-Patient Hospital Capacity Plan. There are a number of considerations and critical dependencies that interact to influence the delivery of health infrastructure including capital funding levels, Infrastructure Guidelines, statutory planning and public procurement requirements, and market and construction sector capacity that can respond to and deliver in-patient bed capacity projects at site and regional level. The operational delivery will also be dependent recruitment of necessary staff to bring this new capacity into service.
