Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 135: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the extent to which comparisons have been made regarding bed occupancy in the public and private sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45872/08]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 137: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of hospital beds available to the health services in the public and private sector; the way this compares with the number available over the past 20 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45874/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 135 and 137 togehter.

The latest available comparable national data on average bed numbers in the public acute hospital sector relates to the period 1993 to 2006. This information is set out in the following table. Equivalent information for the period prior to 1993 is not available. This information has been provided to the Department of Health and Children by statutory health agencies and hospitals. These figures refer to the average number of beds available over each year, taking beds that have been temporarily closed or opened into account. It is important to note that the number of beds available in any hospital may fluctuate over time depending on service demands and other factors such as seasonal closures and refurbishment.

The table shows an increase over the 1993-2006 period of in excess of 2,100 beds (including day places) in public acute hospitals.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to provide an additional 1,500 public acute hospital beds. In this context, the co-location initiative which I announced in July 2005 aims to make available approximately 1,000 additional acute beds for public patients through the transfer of private activity from public hospitals to co-located private hospitals. The balance will be made available through the Health Service Executive's capital programme.

Neither my Department nor the Health Service Executive routinely collects bed numbers or patient activity data in relation to the private acute hospital sector. Furthermore the nature and scope of the services provided in these two sectors differs considerably and would not easily allow for meaningful comparison of bed occupancy rates.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 136: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of extra public hospital beds expected to become available to co-location; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45873/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The aim of the acute hospital co-location initiative is to make available approximately 1,000 additional public acute hospital beds for public patients by transferring private activity, with some limited exceptions, from public acute hospitals to co-located private hospitals. Co-location is considered the quickest and least expensive means of providing significant additional bed capacity for public patients. No capital outlay is required as the beds in the public hospitals are already in place, having been funded by the Exchequer.

Significant progress has been made on the co-location initiative. The Board of the HSE has approved preferred bidder status for the development of co-located hospitals at Beaumont, Cork University, Limerick Regional, St James's, Sligo and Waterford Regional Hospitals. Project Agreements for the first four of these projects have been signed. Planning permission was granted by An Bord Pleanála for the Beaumont project in November 2008. The decision of An Bord Pleanála is awaited in the case of the Cork and Limerick projects, where planning has been granted and appealed. An application for planning permission in respect of the St James's project is expected to be made shortly. Preparatory work in relation to the Project Agreements for the two remaining projects is proceeding. Two further projects at Connolly and Tallaght Hospitals are at earlier stages of the tendering process.