UHW beds promise is 'publicity stunt'

A national hospital plan has been recently announced by Minister Stephen Donnelly where, by 2031, the total number of new beds will reach 4,367. This includes 98 new acute beds for University Hospital Waterford. 

Waterford's Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler said: “I was delighted to receive confirmation from my colleague at the Department of Health, Minister Stephen Donnelly, that 98 new beds will be provided at UHW from next year."

"Since 2020 we have worked really hard at the Department of Health to deliver 1,218 net additional acute hospital beds throughout the country. UHW has seen the provision of 74 additional beds between March 2021 and March of 2024," added Minister Butler. 

Meanwhile, Waterford's Sinn Féin TD and spokesperson on health, David Cullinane, remains critical of the promise being made. 

"The Minister for Health's wish list bed plan is a pre-election publicity stunt to paper over his failures across this Government’s term. The Government allocated minimal additional funding in 2024, so the Minister's previous plan for 1,500 beds disappeared.

"The Minister has announced 3,000 hospital beds on behalf of the next Government, without securing the funding to deliver them. It will be for the next Government to set out how to pay for the beds, because this Government has failed to commit the necessary funding for them," concluded Deputy Cullinane.