Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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675. To ask the Minister for Health whether the existing campus at Saint Ita's House should be considered as a public asset, which after some re-development would deliver huge benefits to the North Dublin community, with particular reference to the question of energy efficiency and how it could be resolved on site. [29073/15]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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676. To ask the Minister for Health his views on whether a scoping exercise will be carried out in relation to the re-development of the Saint Ita's House; and if some of the policies currently being implemented at Grangegorman-Dublin Institute of Technology would provide a useful template. [29074/15]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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677. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the development the Saint Ita's site at Portrane in County Dublin, as a great opportunity for anchoring both a human services health campus and a lateral park, running from Howth to Balbriggan, and that the volume of public land on the peninsula increases the legitimacy of this option. [29075/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 675 to 677, inclusive, together.

As there will always be more projects than can be funded by the Exchequer the development of facilities which support the delivery of core health services must be prioritised within the context of the overall capital envelope available to us. Given the limited funding available and our health infrastructure needs priority for funding must be based on verified service needs and all capital funding must be directed to supporting these core services. The Health Service Executive is required to obtain value for money when disposing of surplus property assets the proceeds of which, with Department of Public Expenditure consent, will be re-invested in delivering much needed health care infrastructure. The HSE is concentrating on applying the limited funding available for capital works in the most effective way possible to meet health care needs now and in the future.

The National Energy Efficiency Action Plan sets a public sector energy efficiency target to reduce energy use by 33% by 2020. The HSE is endeavouring to comply with the Government’s Green Procurement Guidelines which requires public bodies to ensure that a minimum building energy rating of B3 is achieved in all newly built and leased buildings from January 2012 and a minimum rating of A3 from January 2015. The HSE's design and building construction tenders all reflect these targets and all buildings being procured will meet these standards. Given the age of the old buildings on the Portrane campus, their vastness and total unsuitability for modern health care service delivery, it is generally not value for money and economically advantageous to expend scarce health care resources on their redevelopment. However, the HSE is actively engaged in rationalising the Portrane health care accommodation needs and reducing its energy use.

In the context of the planning application for the new hospital the HSE identified some buildings for inclusion in the OPW register where if future use was compatible with existing health care operations these buildings could be utilised by other public bodies. In relation to the use of State property the Government's Reform Plan sets out commitments relating to property asset management which include ensuring that optimal value for money is achieved in the management of the State's property portfolio. Developments including the rationalisation of State bodies, changing business practices and health care needs combined with reduced property requirements necessitate a multi-faceted adjustment to the management of the State’s property portfolio. The development and implementation of the Property Management Delivery Plan has been one of the outcomes of the reform process. This plan aims to improve the planning and management of the public service property portfolio by improving co-ordination of strategies and activities, processes for strategic planning, projects and property management, standards for accommodation fit-out and data capture, accountability for decision making and deployment of resources.