Government funding has been secured for the expansion and development of Galway Hospice, ending years of efforts to address core funding deficits and resource issues at the charity.
The provision of €2 million over the next 18 months and multi-annual operational funding of €1.6 million for each year after is expected to safeguard the organisation’s continuation and growth into the future.
The €2 million tranche of the overall funding is for the new six-bed extension of Galway Hospice. Work on the new entrance and extension began last week, and is expected to be completed by the end of October. The €1.6 million is to address funding shortfalls and inequities. It will also allow the charity to focus its fundraising efforts on its long-term plan to build a new 26-bed unit in Merlin Park.
Fine Gael Galway West TD Brian Walsh, who has campaigned for such funding over the past three years, said it has been "a long battle" which comes "at the end of dozens of meetings with HSE officials, secretary-generals, hospice representatives, the Taoiseach and two health ministers", but that "the work has paid off".
