Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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620. To ask the Minister for Health whether it is intended to appoint a project team to manage the development of the three major proposed health projects on the Newcastle Road site of GUH, namely the emergency department, women and children project, the replacement laboratories project and the cancer care centre, to ensure a co-ordinated development of the site; whether it is intended to progress with these three projects as speedily as possible in view of the urgent requirement that all three proceed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22533/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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At any one time there are multiple capital investment projects underway on the University Hospital Galway (UHG) campus involving different design teams and different works contractors. Overall co-ordination for all works / projects on the campus is achieved through close working relationships locally between HSE Capital & Estates, Saolta Hospital Group and management at Galway University Hospitals.

Strategies to mitigate any potential disruption to services while delivering capital works projects on a live, and extremely busy, hospital site are developed in advance of construction works and during the project lifecycle as part of an overall risk assessment.

In addition to current live projects there are a number of large, complex and significant infrastructural investment proposals for the UHG campus currently at an early stage of design and development in line with the provisions of capital works management framework and the Public Spending Code (PSC). These include proposals for replacement laboratories, a new emergency department, women and children’s block replacement (ED) and a new regional cancer centre at the UHG site.

All proposals being progressed must be compliant with the PSC. The final decision to proceed with the construction of a given project cannot be made until the tender process has been completed and the costings reviewed to ensure that the proposal remains affordable and delivers value for money. The PSC was updated by Circular 06/2023 in March of this year. Key changes to the PSC including an increase to thresholds for major projects and overall streamlining of the requirements for all capital projects at different stages in the project lifecycle.

Strategic Assessment Reports (SARs) have been completed by the HSE for the three proposals referenced above. In line with the requirements of the updated PSC, combined SAR and Preliminary Business Cases (PBC) will be developed for the ED and Cancer Centre proposals for external review at Stage 1, SAR/PBC – Approval in Principle. As the cost of replacement laboratories is likely to fall below the updated threshold of €200m for Major Capital Projects, it no longer must go through the full rigour of the PSC and external review. The streamlining of the PSC has the potential to further expedite the delivery of this proposal.

While they are three independent projects, the potential locations of the ED and Women & Children’s Block project and the replacement Laboratories are sufficiently distanced from each other on the UHG site that they could be developed concurrently without affecting the delivery of services, subject to the fulfilment of PSC requirements and the availability of funding within the Department’s National Development Plan capital envelope. The replacement laboratories, a significant development in its own right, is an enabling project for the Cancer Centre proposals and therefore and is currently envisaged as proceeding to construction ahead of the Cancer Centre development.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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621. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 170 of 9 February 2022, if the HSE is continuing with plans to relocate acute mental health care for the north Cork HSE catchment from unit 4 in St. Stephen’s Hospital to the Mercy University Hospital; if so, if he will provide a timeframe on this proposal; the clinical rationale for this, given that the Mercy Hospital is a longer distance from north Cork and will therefore involve additional challenges for visiting families; if there has been consultation with ground-level clinicians and family and service-user groups from north Cork on these proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22537/23]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.