Vol. 570 No. 2
366 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of nursing home units proposed to be built in the Eastern Regional Health Authority under the public private partnership; the number of beds and day care places proposed in each unit; the square footage envisaged for the office and administration units; and the projected cost to the taxpayer over the leased period. [18258/03]
The ERHA proposes to develop nine 50-bed community nursing units, three in each of the area health boards, which will provide a total of 450 additional beds. The proposed sites in the East Coast Area Health Board area are at Clonskeagh Hospital, Newcastle Hospital in County Wicklow, and Tivoli Road in Dún Laoghaire. The proposed sites in the Northern Area Health Board area are at St. Joseph's Hospital in Raheny, St. Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park and Verville, Vernon Avenue, Clontarf. The proposed sites in the South-Western Area Health Board area are at St. Loman's Psychiatric Hospital in Palmerstown, Brú Chaoimhín and Cherry Orchard Hospital. It is intended that between 20 and 25 day care places will be provided in each location if the site is conducive to accommodating the service.
The public private partnership approach is based on defining the outputs of the facilities such as the level and quality of service. It is simply a statement of need posed in a manner sufficient to communicate what is required without prejudging how the need should be met. Therefore, the square footage of the office and administration unit will not be finalised until the preferred bidder is selected to design, build, finance and partially operate the facilities. This is fundamental to the PPP approach as it allows for innovation from the private sector in determining how the services should be delivered. The feasibility of this project as a PPP has yet to be established and the business advisors appointed by the ERHA will test whether the PPP proposal offers value for money in comparison with the most efficient form of public procurement. If the project is progressed as a PPP, the projected cost to the taxpayer over the lease period cannot be fully determined until the tenders have been received and the contracts have been signed with the preferred bidder.
