Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 February 2024
51. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1805 of 17 January 2024, if his Department has concluded its review of the SAR/PBC for the new emergency department, women and children's block at University Hospital Galway; the expected timeline for it to proceed to pre-tender stage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9509/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Health carried out a review of the Strategic Assessment Report (SAR) for the proposal for the new emergency department, women and children's block at University Hospital Galway and returned it with feedback to the HSE in June 2023.
The findings of this review were incorporated into a SAR/Preliminary Business Case (PBC) which was submitted to the Department by the HSE in November 2023.
In line with the requirements of the new Infrastructure Guidelines which have replaced the Public Spending Code, this SAR/PBC must be subject to a Departmental review, an external assurance process, and presentation to D/PENDPDR’s Major Project Advisory Group.
University Hospital Galway is proposing a number of capital projects of scale on its campus and therefore will require a programmatic approach to their delivery in order to ensure that any works do not adversely impact the delivery of healthcare on the congested campus. With this in mind, the SAR/PBC for the new emergency department, women and children's block has been returned to the Project Team and the Galway University Hospitals Capital Programme Oversight Board recently established by Saolta. They have been tasked with developing the SAR/PBC into a more integrated and strategic plan, incorporating the work of the Capital Programme Oversight Board master planning, from which all individual proposals will flow and be developed.
The timeframe for this process is dictated by the progress of the integrated masterplan under development by the Capital Programme Oversight Board and the outcome of the findings from the reviews that the updated SAR/PBC must be subject to.
