A business case for the national maternity hospital (NMH) relocation project was submitted to the Department of Health by the NMH Project Board in December 2020. This provided a comprehensive overview of the proposed project. However, as a project initiated prior to the updated Public Spending Code (PSC), the Project Board is undertaking additional work to ensure full compliance with the new PSC.
The PSC is designed to ensure that investment decisions are underpinned by a clear policy rationale, and that costs are well understood. In 2019, the PSC was updated and introduced a new project lifecycle, tightening the arrangements for project decision-making, and clarifying the roles of the parties involved including the responsibilities for Sponsoring Agencies and Approving Authorities.
The Department of Health has put in place procedures for evaluating and managing public investment in capital projects, and its responsibilities as an Approving Authority, in line with the updated PSC.
The Department is working with the HSE, as a Sponsoring Agency, to ensure that new capital investment proposals are initiated in line with this new lifecycle approach and through all subsequent stages. For projects that pre-date the updated PSC, the Department, the HSE and project boards are working, with input from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, as appropriate, to ensure that these projects can be incorporated into this lifecycle approach.
The specific requirements that must be included in a business case at the various stages of the PSC, and the stages at which these are to be published, are detailed at www.gov.ie/en/publication/public-spending-code/
For the NMH relocation project, an updated business case will be re-submitted to the Department of Health, as Approving Authority, and to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for technical review, in due course.
