Written answers

Tuesday, 9 November 2021

Department of Health

National Maternity Hospital

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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690. To ask the Minister for Health the stage at which the preliminary business case in preparation by the national maternity hospital project board for the proposed new maternity hospital is; if the updated business case has been resubmitted to his Department; if, in line with the current public spending code, his Department has taken the view that the national maternity hospital business case needs to be presented three times, firstly for approval in principle, secondly for pre-tender approval and finally for approval to proceed; and the point in the process at which the national maternity hospital business case is to be submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for review. [54766/21]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Public Spending Code (PSC) is designed to ensure that investment decisions are underpinned by a clear policy rationale, and that costs are well understood. In 2019, the PSC was updated and introduced a new project lifecycle, tightening the arrangements for capital investment project decision-making, and clarifying the roles of the parties involved including the responsibilities for Sponsoring Agencies and Approving Authorities.

All capital development proposals must progress through several approval stages, in line with the new lifecycle approach of the updated PSC, including detailed appraisal, planning, design and procurement before a firm timeline or funding requirement can be established.

The specific requirements that must be included in a business case at the various stages of the PSC are detailed at www.gov.ie/en/publication/public-spending-code/

Whilst the National Maternity Hospital relocation project pre-dates the updated PSC requirements, the PSC requires that projects at appraisal stage are reviewed in line with, and must conform to, the requirements of the updated PSC and undergo the same level of scrutiny as new investment proposals.

The Project Board is undertaking additional work to ensure full compliance with all elements required under the updated PSC and by the National Investment Office in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (D/PER).

An updated business case in line with the updated PSC has not been submitted to this Department. It is anticipated that an updated business will be submitted to the Department, as Approving Authority, for review and, if Departmental review is successful, to D/PER for technical review in due course.

Once the business case has been received, it will be subject to review in line with the requirements under Decision Gates 1 and 2 of the PSC. This approach is consistent with projects across other areas of Government, where projects pre-date the development of the updated PSC.

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