I propose to take Questions Nos. 2725, 2763, 2764 and 3225 together.
On 20 December 2018, the Minister for Health approved the awarding of the contract for the first phase of the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) to proceed. This constituted essential enabling works, including the construction of a replacement pharmacy and an extension to the multistorey car park at St Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH). In February 2019, work commenced on the new pharmacy and the extension to the multistorey car park.
The purpose of the enabling works undertaken to date is to prepare the site of the new NMH and de-risk the campus in advance of the construction works for the new hospital. These works comprise relocating some SVUH departments currently on the site of the new NMH, such as the Pharmacy, and diverting utilities services to other locations on the SVUH campus. Planning permission and all other relevant statutory applications were obtained for the Pharmacy.
The existing multistorey car park has been extended to cater both for the additional car-parking associated with the new NMH and for existing car-parking spaces displaced by the new hospital. As such it will serve the entire SVUH campus, including the new NMH. The existing multistorey car park is not located on the site of the new NMH.
The HSE has advised that the protection of the State’s interest in the capital works carried out to date on the campus is covered by the existing grant agreement between the HSE and SVUH in relation to capital grants given to the hospital. In relation to the new NMH more specifically, as the Deputy will be aware, a draft legal framework has been developed which aims to address the ownership and governance arrangements at the new NMH on the Elm Park campus, including in terms of protecting the State's interest in the new hospital. While there has been further engagement with stakeholders in relation to these matters, this process has yet to conclude.