Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 July 2017
659. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the status of the proposed construction of the 50-bed residential unit in Tuam, County Galway, on HSE lands adjoining the Grove health centre; if a person has offered €7 million towards the construction of the hospital; his plans to provide the remaining €5 million of capital funding for the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34944/17]
View answerThe Capital Programme announced in January 2016 year provides for the replacement and refurbishment of 90 public nursing homes across the country over the five year period from 2016 to 2021. Under this programme it is proposed to deliver a new Community Nursing Unit in Tuam by 2021. This project is being part-funded by philanthropy and will replace existing beds where the physical environment requires significant improvement.
Significant work has been undertaken by the HSE in determining the most appropriate scheduling of projects over the multi-annual period from 2016 to 2021, within the phased provision of funding, to achieve compliance and registration with HIQA. All healthcare infrastructure developments, including this development, must comply with DPER guidelines and EU directives and will require a lead-in time to complete the various stages. These stages include appraisal, project brief, design feasibility, detailed design, some of which may overlap, the review of costing estimates and finalisation of financing.
This project is currently at appraisal stage and is proceeding according to capital planning guidelines. Based on this early stage of the development, it is expected that the facility will be operational by Q4 2021.
