A site for a new hospital facility in Limerick has been acquired by the HSE for €14 million, in close proximity to University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has confirmed the acquisition of the 44-acre site in Raheen, which is 2km from UHL.
A new hospital campus will be built on the site to relieve pressure on UHL in Dooradoyle and it will be one of the largest hospital campuses in the country.
Ms Carroll MacNeill said the location on the outskirts of Limerick city is exactly where it needs to be.
She said the "really important strategic site" is a 28-minute drive from Ennis, Co Clare and a 28-minute drive from Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
Ms Carroll MacNeill described the land acquisition for the hospital as a milestone moment for the development of healthcare in the midwest.
"I will be appointing a project board to develop a plan for the delivery of healthcare services for this region and of course, the acquisition of this site is a key cog in the development of that thinking," she said.
Regional Executive Officer with HSE Mid West Sandra Broderick said today is "a massive day for the midwest, an important day for the 10,000 people who work in healthcare in the region".
UHL provides the only 24-hour emergency department in the region, including Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary. It also receives patients from parts of north Cork and north Kerry.
It consistently has the highest number of patients being treated on hospital trolleys in the country.
A report by HIQA last year stated the core issue is that there are not enough inpatient beds in HSE Mid-West which can treat the sickest patients who present for urgent or emergency care.
"It was important to people who work in this region that it was recognised that capacity was our issue," Ms Broderick said, "but let us not forget that demand continues to increase".
"Already this year, we are up 20% demand on 2025. We are the busiest health region in the country, so this announcement today is more than deserved for the patients that rely on us and the staff that work for us," she said.
Ms Broderick said HSE Mid-West was keen that the new site be located "as close by as possible" so that the new hospital could open on a phased basis.
A 96-bed unit is currently under construction at UHL and will not be completed until 2029.
"It's important that both sites are developed in parallel," she added.
Friends of Ennis Hospital have expressed frustration at confirmation that the hospital development will be located in Raheen in Limerick city and not in Clare.
The group said the decision highlights how the healthcare needs of the people of Clare continue to be overlooked in regional planning.
Chairperson of FEH Angela Coll said: "While investment in healthcare infrastructure for the Midwest is badly needed, FEH say the location of the development offers little or no benefit to the 130,000 people living in Co Clare, many of whom already face some of the longest journeys in the country to access emergency care."
At today's announcement at HSE offices in Limerick, the health minister said there are significant commitments underway at hospitals in Ennis and Nenagh, including increased bed capacity.
"We are already looking at how to develop better services in Ennis and Nenagh," Ms Carroll MacNeill said.
She said she did not want people in Clare or Tipperary to travel to Limerick to get routine treatments once they have been diagnosed.
"They should be able to get that closer to home," Ms Carroll MacNeill said.
The HIQA report recommended immediate action and investment to address current risks to patient safety in the shortest timeframe and safest way possible.
It made three recommendations: Expand capacity at UHL; add a second site nearby; build a completely new hospital in the Midwest with a second emergency department.
The Government pledged to implement a blend of all three options.
The vision is for this new campus to evolve from a second site near UHL into a new hospital with its own emergency department in future.
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'The devil is in the detail'
Alan Kelly, Labour TD for Tipperary said he welcomed the purchase of the site for the new hospital in Limerick but said "the devil is in the detail".
"If there's going to be a second facility and it's going to be on this site, it has to be a Model 4 hospital (large acute hospital).
"It has to be obviously done in stages. It starts off with a 100 bed facility. Then the transfer of the maternity, which is desperately needed. I was born in the old hospital there," he said.
"I believe the site in Dooradoyle currently is too restricted. We can have a Model 3 there but into the future we have to have a Model 4.
"If I ever hear anything that this isn't going to be a Model 4 hospital, then I'll believe that this Government will have reneged on what they have decided. The issue for me is how is it going to be funded," he added.
