Vol. 561 No. 3
153 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Health and Children the exact terms of the public private partnerships that his Department is entering into regarding nine new community nursing units; the amount of money being invested in these units by the private sector as opposed to the State; the exact nature and duration of the involvement of the private sector with these community nursing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4163/03]
An additional 850 community nursing unit beds will be provided under the pilot PPP in nine new sites in the ERHA area and eight new sites in the SHB area. The private sector partners will be responsible for the design, build, finance and partial operation of the CNUs. All clinical services will be delivered by the health board or authority. The PPP pilot projects are at an early stage and the financial details of these projects are yet to be fully quantified. The first stage of a PPP pilot project is to carry out an assessment. This includes a public sector comparator to consider whether the PPP route provides better value for money over traditional procurement. If the PSC demonstrates value for money the ERHA and SHB will continue with the PPP process.
