The capital funding for Health in the ten years of the National Development Plan 2018 to 2027 provides the investment for a solid, ambitious plan which will improve our health services.
The major priority Government projects comprise (my Department has provided a timeline where possible):
- the National Forensic Mental Health Services Hospital (NFMHSH) at Portrane (to be open in 2020),
- the new Children’s Hospital (to be open in 2022) along with the Paediatric Outpatient and Urgent Care Centres at Connolly (2019) and Tallaght (2020) Hospitals,
- the redevelopment of the National Rehabilitation Hospital Phase I and II (Phase I to be operational in 2020)
- the National Plan for Radiation Oncology at Cork University Hospital (to be commissioned in 2020) and University Hospital Galway,
- the Primary Care Centre Infrastructure Programme (throughout the ten years of the Plan),
- the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital to the St Vincent’s University Hospital campus,
- the long-term residential accommodation programmes for older people (Community Nursing Home Programme) and persons with a disability to address regulatory standards for accommodation (throughout the ten years of the Plan).
Health capital projects and programmes currently underway will continue and these major priority projects will require the bulk of the notified capital allocation over the initial period of the Plan, 2018-2022.
It is important to recognise that this is a long-term plan, which will roll out over ten years and includes provision for a large number of developments across the country. As is to be expected with a ten-year plan, many proposals are at an early stage and, as with all capital development proposals, will require further appraisal, planning, design and tender before a firm timeline or funding required can be established.