Capital projects related to the Covid-19 response were accelerated under emergency legislation through the use of established planning derogations passed by the Minister for Housing (S.I. Nos. 93, 112 and 113 of 2020) as part of the whole-of-government response to the national public health emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, all projects were delivered under the guidance of the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) guidance document, “Note on procurement and contractual matters associated with the Covid-19 Response Measures”, which supported contracting authorities in managing procurements in cases of extreme urgency as the pandemic unfolded and that used emergency mechanisms allowed for in European Procurement Regulations. This note has since been updated by the OGP and emphasises a return to the use of competitive procedures. In summary, it is EU law rather than national legislation that establishes many of the important steps to delivering capital projects, including environmental impact assessments as part of planning consents.
Significant progress has been made. Over the past three years, record numbers of new hospital and ICU beds have been added (25% increase since before the pandemic), along with many new Primary Care Centres around the country. The health service is ahead of Health Service Capacity Review targets on day/inpatient beds and ICU beds. The Government continues to recognise the need to invest in permanent increases in health capacity. The HSE is delivering on an ambitious pipeline of infrastructural investment, with €1.145B invested in 2022. In 2023, core capital funding has increased by 11%, in line with National Development Plan allocations agreed in October 2021, to €1.177B.
The Department of Health is looking at options to speed up urgent capital projects including new surgical hubs, additional hospital beds, theatres, diagnostics, clinics and other infrastructure needed to improve access for patients. The Minister for Health has engaged with the Attorney General to determine whether any of the exemptions that were effectively applied during the pandemic and Brexit could be utilised to deliver health infrastructure more quickly and this consideration is currently underway. Officials from the Department of Health are working with Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform to consider revisions to the current Public Spending Code and how it might be more pragmatically applied in order to deliver appropriate projects whilst ensuring value of money is maintained.
