Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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190. To ask the Minister for Health the position in respect of identifying a suitable site for the elective hospital in County Cork; if the process for identifying the site has been delayed; if so, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41271/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 190 and 380 together.

The National Development Plan stated that, “New dedicated ambulatory elective only hospital facilities will be introduced in Dublin Galway and Cork. These facilities will provide high volume, low complexity procedures on a day and outpatient basis, together with a range of ambulatory diagnostic services. The high volume of demand for such services in these major urban centres is sufficient to justify the construction of dedicated ambulatory centres.”

The Elective Hospitals Oversight Group, chaired by Professor Frank Keane, has completed a Catchment Area Analysis within Dublin, Cork and Galway, within a national capacity context, but also within the catchments defined by the proposed Regional Health Areas, aimed at selected scopes of service. The work is progressing on time and in accordance with the agreed schedule.

The Oversight Group is completing the development of a high-level facilities spatial brief and order of magnitude costs which details the elective clustering of appropriate activities for each of the three facilities in Dublin, Cork and Galway. This will also include an output and facility specification, based on efficient and effective service delivery.

This work will consider a long list of options, and the funding model for developing these facilities. Using a common appraisal methodology, this long list will be reduced to a shorter list of preferred options. As per the Public Spending Code guidelines, these options will then be required to undergo costing and appraisal before being issued in a Preliminary Business Case (PBC) for consideration by Government. The preliminary business plan is expected to be submitted in the near future.

The Elective Hospitals Oversight Group has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in the course of its work to date and will continue to do so after approval of the Preliminary Business Case.