Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
1701. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health for an update on the co-location of Limerick Maternity Hospital to the main UHL campus at Dooradoyle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17846/23]
View answerThe HSE is currently progressing a Strategic Assessment Report (SAR) and Feasibility Study for the relocation of the University Maternity Hospital, Limerick (UMHL).
On 29 March 2023, the Public Spending Code (PSC) was updated by means of Circular 06/2023 from Department of Public Expenditure and NDP Delivery and Reform (D/PENDPDR). Among other things, this increased the thresholds for the classification of major projects at which full PSC scrutiny is required and reduced the number of steps for proposals to travel through before approval to proceed.
The proposed co-location of UMHL with the main University Hospital Limerick campus is a proposal of significant scale and will be subject to the requirements for major capital projects under the updated PSC. This will ensure maximum value for money for the taxpayer can be achieved through disciplined project evaluation, preparation and implementation.
The Department and the HSE are still reflecting on the how best to align the significant number of major capital proposals at various stages of development with the new, shortened PSC life cycle. Under the 2023 PSC update, the SAR for UMHL will be subsumed into the Preliminary Business Case (PBC) and will form a single SAR/PBC document. The work undertaken to date on the SAR for the LMH will be leveraged to progress the proposal in the form of a SAR/ PBC for Stage 1 of the shortened PSC process. The SAR/PBC will then be subject to review by the Department of Health including External Assurance Process and Major Projects Advisory Group, as required under the updated PSC requirements.
As with any proposal of this scale, the final decision to proceed with the construction, and therefore to estimate the timeline, cannot be made until the completion of the Final Business Case, completion of the tender process, and determination that the proposal remains affordable and continues to represent value for money.
