Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the development of community nursing units at St. Joseph's Community Hospital, Stranorlar, and Ramelton Community Hospital, County Donegal.

The overarching policy of the Government is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. The standard of care delivered to residents in public units is generally very high but we recognise that many of our community hospitals are housed in buildings that are less than ideal in the modern context. Without them, though, many older people would not have access to the care that they need. It is important, therefore, that we upgrade our public bed stock, and this is the aim of the capital investment programme for community nursing units that was announced in 2016. This provides the framework to allow for an enhanced programme to replace, upgrade and refurbish these care facilities, as appropriate.

The HSE is responsible for the delivery of health and personal social services, including the facilities at St. Joseph's Community Hospital, Stranorlar, and Ramelton Community Hospital, County Donegal. The HSE has advised that the capital programme provides for the retention of services at St. Joseph's Community Hospital, Stranorlar, and Ramelton Community Hospital, with a requirement for refurbishment of both centres.

Significant work was undertaken to determine the most optimum scheduling of projects within the phased provision of funding to achieve compliance and registration with HIQA. In the short term, the HSE will invest minor capital in both units in 2019 and 2020 in order to deal with HIQA compliance issues, and an agreed schedule of works is being finalised with HIQA.

It is important to recognise that all capital development proposals must progress through detailed appraisal, planning, design and tender stages before a firm timeline or funding requirement can be established. This includes, where possible, future-proofing to ensure capital developments meet current standards and that provision is made for additional capacity and improved equipping, or both, and that these are addressed appropriately.

My Department has been working with the HSE and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to develop a multi-annual capital plan for the health services. The health capital allocation in 2019 is now €642 million for the construction and equipping of health facilities. This represents an increase of €224 million on last year's capital provision. My Department and the HSE are currently working to finalise a multi-annual capital plan, which will determine the projects that will progress in 2019 and beyond, having regard to the available capital funding, the number of large national capital projects currently under way, the cash flow requirements attaching to each project and the relevant priority.

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