I thank Deputy Connolly for raising this very important matter and for his continued engagement on urgency and emergency care capacity in Galway and the wider west and north west. I have answered many questions from Deputy Connolly on healthcare and I appreciate the focus he places on it. I will take this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. Ensuring that people receive the right care in the right place at the right time remains a core commitment of the Government under the Sláintecare reform programme. Injury units are a key part of this commitment. They provide safe convenient treatment for non-life-threatening injuries such as broken bones, sprains, minor burns and wounds, delivering the same standard of care as an emergency department but with significantly shorter waiting times and closer to home for many patients. This is exactly the point Deputy Connolly has been making with regard to how much he appreciates and supports what a minor injuries unit can provide. Nationally, injury units continued to perform strongly. Last year, they saw more than 222,000 attendances, a 5% increase on 2024. Up to the end of June this year, attendances reached 115,000, a further 2% increase on the same period in 2025. It is very clear how important minor injury units are in communities. Crucially, the median patient experience time remains exceptionally low, at just 1.2 hours. This demonstrates the value of injury units in providing rapid access to care and reducing pressure on emergency departments, particularly for lower acuity injuries. The HSE West and North West regional executive officer is working on the development of an investment package, including targeted supports for the Galway and Roscommon area. This includes enhancements to acute community and diagnostic capacity across the region. While this work is at an early stage, consideration is being given to the feasibility of the development of an injury unit in Galway. As Deputy Connolly has said, €84,000 has been provided. With the new structures, we now have six regional health areas and six regional executive officers. I know that Deputy Connolly knows the regional executive officer in the area, Tony Canavan, very well and it would be well worth having a conversation with him because an awful lot of decisions have been devolved to regional areas. The project is at appraisal stage, which involves assessing feasibility, demand, site suitability, clinical alignment, cost estimates and value-for-money considerations. Further updates will be available once the initial feasibility work has concluded. It is important to situate Galway within the wider national development pipeline. Four units are scheduled for delivery in 2026, at Athlone, Ballina, Carlow and Tallaght. These represent the current national pipeline and reflect the HSE's assessment of geographical gaps, population growth and clinical safety considerations. The HSE continues to review expansion needs and is working to future-proof the system by standardising opening hours to 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., seven days per week across existing sites. I know the Minister for Health and the Department see the merit in the expansion of minor injury units, and four are targeted for this year. The fact that €84,000 has been allocated for the appraisal of a Galway injury unit is very positive. It is important to get a line in the capital plan, and that is what happened. The Department will continue to engage closely with the HSE and the regional executive officer, REO, to ensure that Galway's urgent and emergency care services evolve in line with population growth, service demand and the needs of local communities. I will raise with the Minister the fact that the Deputy has raised this issue again. Conversations locally are important too.

Sentiment score: 0.17

I reiterate that the HSE West and North West regional executive officer, Mr. Canavan, is currently working on the development of an investment package, including targeted supports for both the Galway and Roscommon areas. This includes enhancements to acute, community and diagnostic capacity across the region. While this work is at an early stage, consideration is being given to the feasibility of the development of an injury unit in Galway. It is very important that I repeat that. A sum of €84,000 was allocated for the appraisal of a Galway injury unit. I have been a Minister of State in the Department of Health for the last six years. What we are about in the Department is improving capacity and trying to ensure the throughput in emergency departments and acute hospitals is fluid. It is also important that we deliver community supports on the ground. Some 225,000 people attended minor injury units last year, and the median time taken was one and a half hours. There is no comparison. I think the Deputy is pushing an open door, and he should continue to push it and engage locally as well. The Minister has a plan for this year to open four new units. Everything depends on funding and more units will be opened next year. The Deputy's intervention is very timely.

Sentiment score: 0.04