Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This building and project are exceptional. As the Senator knows, 172 primary healthcare centres have been set up by the HSE around the country. One of them is about to open in my constituency in Dún Laoghaire. Clearly, there has been a transformation in primary healthcare. Yet, this project is not going well and I think the Minister for Health and everybody involves accepts that fact.

The Senator refers to public procurement. Under European public procurement law, the acquisition of buildings is specifically excluded from procurement rules. However, there are, of course, protocols around acquiring and disposing property. The actions around that have to match the rules that are set forth in circulars by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. If the Senator wants to work with me to see if there has been some breach of those rules, I would be happy to look at that with him. That is from my point of view in the Department of public expenditure and reform. The Senator may want to report anything to me that he thinks is not right or he may feel something should be done differently.

There is an acknowledgement from the Minister for Health that this project has not gone well. He is not satisfied with the amount of information he has on it or the length of time it has taken to carry out. However, this is an exception in the HSE's property management. It is the largest property manager in the State. I know that because I am involved in upgrading its facilities for energy efficiency. It has the largest targets and the largest opportunities for improvement. If I can help the Senator in any way in the future, I ask him to please contact me directly. I will pass on his concerns to the Minister for Health.