The rebuilding of key areas of Letterkenny General Hospital after the recent major flooding is set to cost around €10m.

A public meeting of the board of the West/North West Hospitals Group yesterday was told that eleven key areas of the hospital required rebuilding as a result of flood damage.

These include the gynaecology/obstetrics department, the kitchens, the ED, radiology and outpatients.

On July 26, after 57 millimetres of rainfall in 15 minutes, floods wiped out 40% of the floor space at Letterkenny Hospital, eliminating more than 70% of its capacity.

The flooding at Letterkenny Hospital is regarded as the most significant disaster in the history of the State in the acute hospital sector, Bill Maher, CEO of the hospital group, told the meeting.

Seán Murphy, General Manager at the hospital, told the meeting that they were hoping to resume virtually all services in the coming weeks but that it would be some months before they returned to pre-flood conditions.