Construction work on extending Mayo emergency unit to start next year - Varadkar

by Caoimhín Rowland

The continuous overcrowding issue at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) is one that is being taken very seriously by the government.

That's according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who visited the facility in Castlebar today.

When asked about the problems there, he was keen to stress how “overly negative” Irish people can be about the health service.

He followed this up by stating: “Mayo University Hospital is a very good hospital, waiting lists are down significantly, both to see consultants and to get a procedure done.”

The under-pressure Taoiseach did concede that there is a “very real problem of overcrowding in the emergency department which I take very seriously.”

He met with management and staff to consider plans for the long-awaited extension of the emergency department in MUH.

"The extension will go under construction next year,” he confirmed.

However, the planned extension is yet to seek planning approval and the Fine Gael leader promises "to tease it through."

"As is often the case with infrastructure projects they can take longer to do than people think,” he added.