Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Ian Borg said that the works for the expansion of Mater Dei Hospital's emergency department is expected to commence next month, in August, and that the project should take three years to be completed.

On Tuesday, Opposition MP Ian Vassallo asked Minister Borg to provide an update on Mater Dei Hospital's expansion project, share when this project is planned to be finished, and say how many net beds will be added to the national hospital's emergency department following its completion.

Minister Borg replied that the plan to expand Mater Dei's emergency department and add on an acute mental health hospital to its facilities has already been announced, and that its works are expected to start at some point in August, in a few weeks' time.

The Health Minister noted that this major project is expected to take three years to be completed, meaning that it should be ready in 2029.

Borg also said that through this project, the number of cubicles in this area of the hospital will be more than doubling - from 32 to 70 cubicles. Through this, the amount of cubicles for Paediatric Emergency will also be increased.

The project has been said to cost some €120 million, though this was not the price initially cast into the government's tender for this expansion.

The original government tender for the entire project was priced at €80 million, though in October last year, public hearings within the Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB) on the case began after an appeal was filed by the tender's sole bidder.

The tender's sole bidder, CE-BB Projects, had bid €135 million - a 70% rise from the budgeted €80 million - and thus had their bid rejected by government for being too costly.

With the project also including an acute mental hospital, it is intended for Malta's reliance on Mount Carmel Hospital for mental health services to decrease once the major healthcare project is finished.