Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he “shares the frustration” caused by delays to construction projects like the new Emergency Department and paediatric and maternity units at University Hospital Galway.

Mr Varadkar said the units “should have been under construction by now” and he will be pursuing the matter with the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe “so that we get those projects up and running”.

He was speaking in the Dáil last week following criticisms from Galway West TD Noel Grealish about the standard of healthcare in Galway and the West of Ireland.

“I share his frustration that so many important projects in the West have been delayed, particularly the Emergency Department and the paediatric and maternity units at University Hospital Galway, UHG, which should have been under construction by now, let alone have gone to planning.

“That is something I will be pursuing with the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, over the course of the year so that we get those projects up and running,” the Taoiseach said.

Deputy Grealish said there had been a lot of debate about the state of the country’s health services, with growing waiting lists and Emergency Department overcrowding, but added that this “missed” what was happening in the west and north-west of Ireland, where services lagged behind the rest of the country.

“A capacity review carried out by the Saolta University Health Care Group [which operates Galway’s public hospitals] in 2019 found that almost two thirds, or 64%, of the infrastructure at the region’s biggest hospital, UHG, was classified as either not satisfactory or unacceptable. In the case of its sister hospital at Merlin Park in the city, the figure increased to a shocking 95%.

“During 2022, waiting lists for inpatient and outpatient pain relief treatment in Galway increased by 75%, while the rest of the country only saw a tiny increase of just 1% in such waiting lists.

“The numbers in Galway waiting for 18 months or more, many in severe pain, are now more than three times greater than this time last year, while the rates in the rest of the country dropped by almost one fifth. In specialties such as orthopaedics, the experience of the patients in Galway falls well short of what is happening in the rest of the country,” said Deputy Grealish.

He went on to say that the West of Ireland currently has the lowest survival rate in Ireland for breast and lung cancer.

The Independent TD called for a task force to be set up to assess health services in the region.

“Experts in the field point out that late diagnosis leads to poorer patient outcomes. The facilities for the treatment of cancer in Galway are not fit for purpose. Cancer patients are competing with elective and emergency patients for vital life-saving treatment. I welcome the recent announcement that a new cancer care centre at UHG is to be included in the HSE’s national service plan this year.

“We need similarly urgent action to be taken in relation to the rest of the health services in Galway and the West. At the very least, we must bring them up to a standard that is fit for purpose.

“The West is starved of proper services and I am calling for a task force to look at what is going wrong with the health services in the region and what needs to be done to improve them,” said Deputy Grealish.

He added that the Taoiseach may point out that a new elective hospital is to be built on the grounds of Merlin Park.

“Realistically, it could take 15 years or more, given that the recently-opened radiotherapy unit in Galway took over 14 years to deliver. There are many instances in the provision of health services where Galway and the West are falling well behind the rest of the country,” he said.

The Taoiseach responded that the spend for the Saolta Hospital Group – which covers six hospitals in the west and north-west – has a budget this year of €1 billion, which is an increase of 24% in five years.

He added that cancer survival rates have increased significantly in the past two decades.

“Almost all regions of the country would say they are underfunded or under-resourced when it comes to healthcare. The Deputy has made the case very strongly today for the West,” said the Taoiseach.

He added that the Government is committed to its plan to build elective hospitals, “but we are realistic that it will be 2027 or 2028 before patients will be seen in those hospitals and we need interim measures”.