Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 511: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the final list of public hospital sites on which land will be allocated to developers of private for-profit hospitals under the co-location scheme; the time-scale for the completion of each of these private hospitals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15261/07]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 512: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of private beds which will be transferred from public hospitals to the new private hospitals at each site under the co-location scheme; the manner in which this number was determined in each case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15262/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 511 and 512 together.

On foot of a Government decision, I issued a policy direction to the Health Service Executive (HSE) in July 2005 on the co-location of private hospitals on the sites of public hospitals in order to free up 1,000 beds for public patients.

My Department has been informed by the HSE that Invitation to Tender (ITT) documents were issued to the short-listed bidders on Thursday 19th April 2007 in relation to the following public hospital sites:

1 Waterford Regional Hospital

2 Cork University Hospital

3 Limerick Regional Hospital

4 Sligo General Hospital

5 Beaumont Hospital

6 St. James's Hospital

It is expected that the Invitations To Tender for Connolly Hospital (Blanchardstown) and the Adelaide and Meath Hospital incorporating the National Children's Hospital (Tallaght) will issue at a later date.

Tenders are due to be submitted to the HSE by 17th May 2007. The HSE will evaluate the tenders and select the successful bidders during the following 2 weeks. Following that a "stand still" period of 2 weeks is required by procurement law before agreements can be signed with successful bidders. Pending completion of the tendering process, it is not possible to provide definitive time-scales for the completion of the new hospitals or of the number of private beds to be provided in each hospital.