Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for giving me this opportunity, and the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, for giving me the opportunity to take his question the response to which he has prepared, as it falls under the Department of Health. Out of respect to the Minister, I will read the response he has given me and then I will add my own commentary.

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to update the House on the release of the HSE property in Mahon from the National Ambulance Service to Cork City Council. The HSE has a significant property portfolio extending to 4,400 buildings across 2,600 locations throughout the country. These buildings range in age from pre-18th century to modern purpose-built facilities. The health estate is varied and complex, ranging from small health centres in rural locations to very large acute hospitals. The HSE actively manages this constantly changing portfolio, including the disposal of identified surplus assets.

The HSE adheres to its statutory obligations and follows the process for the disposal of properties by State bodies and agencies. When a HSE property has been vacated by a service, it is necessary to establish if it is surplus to requirements and decide to retain the property in the healthcare estates. If the property is to be disposed of, the process hierarchy is set out as follows: offer the property to the LDA via written notification; should the LDA not choose to take up the property, under DPER Circulars 11/2015 and 17/2016, the HSE must then offer the property to other stakeholders via the State property register; and should no other State stakeholders take up the property, the HSE places the property for sale on the open market.

Should a local authority identify HSE property which it believes could be repurposed for community use, the local authority should contact the HSE in the first instance to determine if the property is vacant and surplus to health care needs. Eighteen months ago, HSE agreed to transfer a building in Mahon to Cork City Council. The council would then put it out for expressions of interest, with the view that it could be suitable to house the Rainbow Club autism charity. The HSE property in question was leased to the National Ambulance Service in 2021 to use as a Covid swabbing centre. The Deputy will be aware of the vital role the National Ambulance Service played during the pandemic.

Following discontinuation of the Covid swabbing operation, the building has been utilised as a National Ambulance Service regional training facility for in-house staff training. It has also, more recently, been used as a base a community engagement unit who carry out work with groups in relation to the first responder scheme. The transfer of the building was delayed due to the difficulty of sourcing an alternative building for the National Ambulance Service. The Department of Health has been advised that the National Ambulance Service vacated the property over the weekend and returned the keys to HSE capital and estates on Monday, 10 June. HSE capital and estates has assessed the building and is currently carrying out minor remedial works before completing a formal surrender to Cork City Council which is anticipated to take place by the end of this week, this being 14 June 2024. The local HSE capital and estates office is actively engaged with Cork City Council property division regarding same.

That is the formal response that we have. Eighteen months on, we now have the keys and the title passing to Cork City Council. No doubt officials within Cork City Council will act with speed to ensure the project that the Deputy and I have talked about for the past three years will pass on to a community group that provides serious needs supporting 1,200 children on a weekly basis in the Mahon area and wider Cork area and that has an SLA with the HSE.

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