Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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792. To ask the Minister for Health if she will confirm that the co-location of standalone maternity hospitals with adult acute hospitals will remain Government policy into the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37333/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Co-location of remaining standalone maternity hospitals with adult acute services aligns with international best practice. Co-location provides mothers access to a full range of medical and support services. Tri-location with paediatric services ensures immediate access to specialist paediatric services.

In 2023, Government gave approval for the National Maternity Hospital project to proceed to tender. The new hospital will be co-located with St Vincent’s University Hospital. The tender process, which began in September 2023, is now complete. Tender evaluation is ongoing.

Relocation projects for the remaining standalone maternity hospitals are at an early stage. Relocation project proposals are required to progress through a series of approval stages. This is in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines published in December 2023.

Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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793. To ask the Minister for Health the progress regarding the co-location of the UHL maternity hospital to the Dooradoyle campus; if she will provide an estimated timeline for such a move to be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37334/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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It is Government policy, in line with international best practice and as re-iterated in the National Maternity Strategy, to co-locate our remaining standalone maternity hospitals with adult acute hospitals.

Co-location of maternity services with adult services provides mothers with access to a full range of medical and support services should the need arise. The availability of these services helps ensure the delivery of an optimum, safe service, particularly for high-risk mothers and babies.

Co-location of the National Maternity Hospital to the St Vincent’s Hospital campus, which is the first maternity hospital to be co-located under the National Maternity Strategy, is currently subject to a tender process to select the contractor to build that new facility.

The co-location of University Maternity Hospital Limerick to the University Hospital Limerick campus in Dooradoyle is considered to be the next maternity co-location project. The scale and complexity of delivering a new maternity hospital means that the co-location will be considered a major capital project and subject to the requirements of D/PENDR's Infrastructure Guidelines. This proposal is currently at an early appraisal stage with a Strategic Assessment Report/ Preliminary Business Case under development.