I am pleased to confirm that the Strategic Assessment Report reviews by my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Review and Reform, for the proposed Emergency Department, Women & Children’s block at UHG, have been completed.
On 29 March 2023, Minister O’Donohoe updated and shortened the Public Spending Code for capital investments. The SAR stage has now been subsumed into a single SAR/Preliminary Business Case (PBC) document.
Since the SAR review for the Galway proposal has already been completed, the output of the reviews will be shared with the HSE to ensure that the new SAR/PBC is as robust as possible.
The HSE has undertaken work in parallel to the SAR to support the expedient development of the PBC and is now considering the implications of the recent PSC changes.
The timeline for the completion of the SAR/PBC cannot yet be estimated as the outputs of the SAR review and PSC changes will have to be incorporated by the HSE.
When the new SAR/PBC is finalised it will be subject to further review and Government consent before it can proceed to the pre-tender stage.
These welcome PSC reforms can have a positive impact on the timeline for major capital projects, including this project at UHG, to proceed through the stages of the project life cycle in a timely and efficient manner.
