Jennifer Carroll MacNeill faces defining year on hospitals, overcrowding and agency spend

Elective hospitals, overcrowding, long-awaited inquiries and spiralling costs will define a crucial year for the health minister

Minister for health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has focused on the options given by Hiqa to address overcrowding in Limerick, particularly options ‘B’ and 'C' — the former is a new elective-only centre, and the latter a longer-term plan for an additional hospital with an emergency department. File photo: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

If 2026 delivers a new elective hospital for Limerick and the handover of the National Children’s Hospital to the HSE, health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will be happy.

Progress on tackling hospital overcrowding, especially in Cork and Galway, as well as reducing the enormous drain on the HSE budget from over-use of agency staff are also on the minister's to-do list.