The Expenditure Exchequer Issues at 30th November 2013 notified a gross capital under spend of €69.9m for the HSE and €15.5m for the Department.
The HSE's underspend is due to a number of factors:
- Major projects such as the Children's Hospital are at an early stage in their lifecycles.
- The procurement of design teams and contractors is taking much longer than expected due to the level of challenges being experienced.
- There are also delays in site commencement by contractors.
- The disposal of surplus assets is proving difficult in terms of achieving the €8m target. Success in disposing of surplus properties is primarily dependent on the market.
My Department's capital expenditure is traditionally drawn down in the last months of the year and it is anticipated that approx.€10m will be spent in December. All capital projects approved in the Capital Plan 2013 have been progressed in the current year. However, some of the major projects have experienced delays which include:
- The National Children's Hospital
- St. James's Hospital - Successful Aging Project
- University College Hospital, Galway - Acute Mental Health Unit
- National Rehabilitation Hospital - Phase 1
- Ambulance control & command centre
- Altnagelvin Radiation Oncology project
None of the €107.2m capital carryover related to the Health Vote.
