Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 247: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the consortia involved in the provision of co-location hospitals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29849/07]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 248: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of hospital beds which will be provided under the co-location hospital scheme; the number of beds which will be provided at each site; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29850/07]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 249: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the improvements in patient quality and care expected for patients from the decision to build co-location hospitals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29851/07]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 250: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the names of the proposed sites for co-location hospitals; the progress to date in each location; if the tendering process has been completed; the names of those awarded each tender; the cost of the facility in each case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29852/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 247 to 250, inclusive, together.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to provide 1,500 extra public acute beds. The co-location initiative which was announced in July 2005, aims to deliver about 1,000 of these additional beds for public patients through the development of private co-located hospitals on public hospital sites and the transfer of private activity to those hospitals.

In service terms, this means that the co-located facility will be required to treat all the private patients that are currently treated in the public hospital subject to limited exceptions, for example A&E, radiation oncology or organ transplantation services. In these exceptional cases, the public hospital will continue to provide such services to private as well as public patients. The Project Agreement which will apply to co-location projects will require the private hospital to have sufficient staff and other resources available to enable it to discharge its obligations as well as setting out requirements for clinical governance including quality assurance structures and compliance with best practice in terms of medical accreditation and patient outcomes.

The Board of the Health Service Executive approved preferred bidders for the following six co-located hospital sites at its July meeting:

Waterford Regional Hospital

Cork University Hospital

Limerick Regional Hospital

Sligo General Hospital

Beaumont Hospital

St. James's Hospital

Since then the hospitals and the preferred bidders have been working towards finalising the Project Agreements for these sites. It is expected that the Project Agreements for the sites will be concluded in the near future. Connolly Hospital and Tallaght Hospital, which are also participating in the co-location initiative, are at an earlier stage of the procurement process. A tender in relation to the former is under consideration. It is expected that the invitation to tender (ITT) for Tallaght Hospital will issue in the near future. My Department has asked the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Health Service Executive to forward directly to the Deputy details of the preferred bidder consortia and the proposed number of beds at each co-located site.