Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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A design team was appointed in September 2022 by HSE Capital & Estates, progressing the proposal for a 96-bed medical ward block at Wexford General Hospital to preliminary stage one design. This is expected to be completed by the end of January 2023.

Concurrently, the HSE is compiling a Strategic Assessment Report (SAR) for this proposal to ensure full compliance with the Public Spending Code (PSC). As the proposal could cost in excess of €100m it is expected that this SAR will be submitted to the Department of Health in Q2 2023 for review.

The delivery of capital projects is a dynamic process and is subject to the successful completion of the various approval stages, in line with the new lifecycle approach of the updated PSC. As such the timeline for construction of a new ward block cannot be estimated until after the completion of a tender competition and submission of the Final Business case to Government for approval.

The 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 project decision-making, and clarifying the roles of the parties involved including the responsibilities for Sponsoring Agencies and Approving Authorities.

These are defined processes in which all Departments and agencies are subject to and must follow to ensure that Government, as the approving authority for all major projects (i.e. those over costing over €100m) can be satisfied that the project is the best means to achieve a policy goal and that we achieve maximum value for money for the taxpayer.