PLANNING FOR A GENERAL ELECTION... WE TAKE A LOOK AT ‘ANNOUNCE NOW - PAY LATER’ LOCAL PROJECTS
Millstreet Hospital
Envisaged Works: the construction of a single storey extension to the existing hospital, consisting of 11 en suite bedrooms, dining room, kitchen store and changing facilities, new extended day rooms, toilets and assisted bathrooms, administration offices, relocated staff changing facilities, laundry room, plant room, meter room, new link corridor, and secure garden courtyard. Permission has also been granted for the demolition of several structures within the grounds, including two existing single-storey rear extensions, part of a rear kitchen extension, garden wall to the rear of the site and roadside wall to the front of the building. Funding Required: Not available Funding allocated: Funding of €9.7m announced in 2016. Not clear if this funding is still available. Otherwise funding will not be allocated until Budget 2021 in October 2020 at the earliest.
Macroom Hospital:
Envisaged works: The redeveloped hospital will see the replacement of wards with three bed rooms with 24 additional single rooms and one double room. While the development envisages the arrangement of the new bedrooms around three courtyards. Based on the documentation there are no plans for additional beds at the hospital.
Planning Status: Planning permission is being sought for a major redevelopment of the hospital, the first since it was built in the 1930s.
Funding required: No details available yet Funding allocated: No details available yet.
Further information: This is the written response of Simon Harris, Minister for Health, to a Dáil question from Aindrias Moynihan TD in the Dáil last week: “The Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects and has advised that the planning application has recently been lodged with Cork County Council.
It is important to recognise that all capital development proposals must progress through a number of approval stages, in line with the public spending code, including detailed appraisal, planning, design and procurement before a firm timeline of funding requirement can be established.
The delivery of capital projects is a dynamic process and is subject to the successful completion of the various approval stages, which can impact on the timeline for delivery.” THERE’S talk of an election as speculation mounts about an early poll, particularly if there’s a satisfactory outcome to the ongoing talks about Brexit.
While polls are published and the focus is on international issues, national elections are fought locally on local issues.
A number of projects have been announced in recent weeks and going back over a year which seem to indicate a windfall of expenditure for projects in the mid and north Cork areas.
Finding the funding, however, to meet the cost of these projects is a little trickier than making an announcement that planning permission is being sought for an extension or redevelopment of a hospital, a new school or a major infrastructure project such as the proposed Macroom/Baile Mhúirne bypass.
Where do these projects stand at present? Will work get underway soon or on the far side of an election, which may happen before Christmas but more likely early next Summer?
Corkman reporter Concubhar Ó Liatháin compiles the evidence of an announce now, pay later strategy, indicating that projects that generate positive publicity prior to an election don’t actually get funded until long afterwards.
Macroom/Ballyvourney Bypass:
Envisaged works: 22 kilometres of dual carriageway motorway. The project will link up to the existing N22 on the eastern outskirts of Macroom at Coolcower where a roundabout will allow traffic divert along the bypass which will traverse the upper stretches of the Carrigadrohid Reservoir. The bypass will then pass north of Macroom, emerging west of the town where it will then travel south of the existing N22 near Carrigaphooka before skirting north of Baile Mhúirne where it will link up again with the existing route near the county bounds. The project envisages the construction of 18 road bridges and four river bridges which will cross the Sulán, the Lana, the Foherish and the Bohill rivers.
Current status: Tenders have been submitted by contractors but no contractor has been appointed yet. Only when a contractor is appointed, can the difficult process of compulsory purchases of land along the route get underway.
Funding announced: €280m – August 2019
Funding allocated: While the funding has been announced, it hasn’t been allocated, according to the recently published budget.
Questions are now beginning to be asked if the project will go ahead, as planned, by the end of 2019. Whether the funding of €280m which was announced is sufficient is also being queried. When announcing the funding in August, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said: “I don’t want to underestimate the time lag that will be there in terms of the time it will take to build it but it’s a really welcome development and one that is long overdue and it will be of benefit, but from all places from the county bounds to east of Macroom.
According to Aindrias Moynihan TD: “As late as August just gone, Minister Creed was claiming he was “confident” that funding for this “long overdue” project would be approved by Cabinet in September.
“It’s now October and we seem no closer to construction work than we were when it was first announced. The timeline for the construction is three years and we have already been waiting significantly longer than that for the government to approve it. “As The Corkman was going to print this week, there was increasing speculation but no confirmation of a decisive announcement regarding the long sought bypass.
Kanturk Hospital
Envisaged works: A new single storey extension to the existing community hospital consisting of 31 single bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a treatment room, nurses station, family room and other accommodation. Two other single storey extensions to other facilities plus a two storey ambulance base building.
Planning status: Planners at Cork County Council have requested further information with relation to issues such as parking, the disposal of surface water and water sources for fire fighting purposes.
Funding required: Figure requested from HSE Cork Kerry but not made available yet. Funding announced/allocated: A funding package of €9.7m was announced in 2016 for Kanturk and Millstreet Hospitals. The Corkman sent a request to HSE Cork/Kerry for an update as to the status of funding for both these projects but no information was forthcoming at the time of going to press.
Fermoy Hospital Envisaged works: Extension to Dochas ward which includes eight new bedrooms/en suite facilities, other medical facilities. Planning Permission: Planning Permission granted on 30 July 2019 Funding required: Not available
Funding announced/allocated: St Patrick’s Community Hospital in Fermoy was allocated €2m in funding under the Government’s 2016-21 Capital Spending Plan, funding which was announced in January 2016.
The €2m was allocated as part of a €385m package for 90 health facilities around the country. At the time. Deputy Sean Sherlock, then a Junior Minister in the Fine Gael /Labour coalition, and Tom Barry TD said the work would be completed by the end of 2018.
“This is a significant investment as it delivers the refurbishment of the centre and peace of mind to residents and their families,” said Seán Sherlock.
“It signifies the strengthening of our public finances as we can now move towards further investment in centres like St Patrick’s in Fermoy.”
Deputy Barry said the “significant” investment reflected the government’s determination to maintain the number of current public nursing home beds and ensure all community facilities are HIQA compliant.
“The majority of residents in nursing homes and community hospitals in Cork receive an excellent quality of care but some of the facilities available are not up to date. This funding will ensure that the best facilities are available for residents and their families into the future.”