Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy. In 2016 a capital programme for older persons residential centres was developed in response to the introduction of HIQA's national residential care standards for older people and the requirement that all facilities providing long-stay beds be registered with HIQA. This is a programme to replace, upgrade and refurbish community nursing units as appropriate at 89 locations. The new 50-bed community nursing unit in Midleton is part of the programme. At the end of 2024, 51 community nursing units were completed. Seventeen are currently under construction; seven of those, including the unit at Midleton, are being delivered through public-private partnership, PPP. The remaining 21 are at various stages of appraisal, review, design or tender.

The community nursing unit in Midleton is anticipated to complete construction in quarter 3 of 2025. The HSE advised the Deputy in reply to a parliamentary question in February 2025 that it was anticipated that Midleton would be completed by quarter 2 of this year; however, there are a number of outstanding items that need to be addressed prior to completion. It is important to note that these items are essential for HIQA registration. All parties are actively engaging to address the outstanding items and ensure we achieve construction completion for each of the seven PPP sites, including Midleton. Following construction completion and commissioning, the new building must be registered with HIQA as per the Health Act 2007, as amended. Once the community nursing unit is registered, the HSE can admit residents. Workforce planning is progressing across all staff disciplines to ensure the required complement and skill mix of staff is in place to facilitate the operational schedule. It is estimated that, pending successful registration and recruitment, the new community nursing unit will be fully resourced and operational during quarter 4 of 2025.

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