Still no locations or business plans for new elective hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin

The Sláintecare plan mapped out a timetable for the projects last May

Fine Gael spokesman on Health Colm Burke said there are “major problems” with hospital overcrowding in Cork, Limerick and Waterford which an elective hospital could address.

Business plans for elective hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin have not yet been reviewed by the Government, while sites have also not been selected, some nine months after a Sláintecare plan laid out a construction timetable.

The Sláintecare Implementation Strategy and Action Plan 2021-2023, published in May last year, said construction work would be underway on these sites before the end of next year. This would include having completed finalising the sites, getting planning permission, and going through fire certificate and tender stages, the plan said.