HSE capital spend is affected by cuts According to EC Harris , the healthcare sector may have a hard time lifting projects off the ground in 2009 as budgetary constraints and general availability of capital “could result in a further contraction in capital expenditure.” Indeed, earlier this year it was announced the health budget would have to be cut by a further €34 million (on top of Budget 2009), which is likely to have implications on new build. Even though the HSE Capital Plan 2008-2013 hadn’t yet been published at time of print, the expenditure for 2009 was announced in the HSE’s National Services Plan. A full list of projects is due to be approved by the Department of Health and Children shortly. What are the projects with an expected spend of more than €5m in 2009? Click here to find out >> What are the PPP projects due to come on stream in the health sector? Click here to find out >>

Donal Murphy, Director of Global Project Finance at Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking looks at the PPP model in healthcare building and outlines what lenders really think about funding such projects. He spoke exclusively at the recent CMG Events’ Health & Education Construction Conference 2009. Click here to see his presentation >>

€100m investment in Bon Secours		1,800 builder jobs under BMG plans
The Bon Secours Health System has announced plans to invest €100m in its hospitals in Cork and Galway. The group says €85m will be spent on a new multi-storey car park in Cork, as well as a new hospital wing containing 80 private rooms, three new theatres and a new cancer centre.		The Beacon Medical Group has been granted permission to construct a third private hospital in Ireland – resulting in the creation of over 1,800 construction jobs.

Exchequer funding worries may lead to a slowdown in activity in the health and education sectors in the short term as hesitant capital markets make it harder for co-location hospital projects and education PPP programmes to take off the ground. Indeed, at the time the CMG Business Information Report went to print budget allocations for education were cut by €56 million and by €34 million for health, much of which had to do with the knock-on effects of the drop in tender prices . And so the phrase you’re most likely to hear out of the health and education sectors is “value for money,” perhaps even more so than in civil engineering projects. Re-tendering in this sector has already started and anecdotal evidence suggests competition for tenders in this sector is increasing, further putting downwards pressure on price. However spending remains buoyant and it is likely that there will be growth in the volume of work in the long term. The Department of Education has announced €889 million had been earmarked for 2009 , with €580 million going towards primary and post-primary schools and €265 million towards the higher education pool, representing an overall increase of 15% over the department’s 2008 budget. A further €75 million was set aside for the Summer Works Scheme, an annual programme to upgrade existing schools during the summer recess. With regards to healthcare, about €150 million will be spent in construction projects in 2009 of which €115 million will be spent in new build. The yet-to-be-published HSE Capital Plan 2008-2013 earmarked €5.4 billion for capital expenditure between 2008 and 2013, of which €200 million was allocated to 2009. The above is an extract from the CMG Business Information Report 2009 - 2011: Trends, Forecasts and Business Opportunities. To order your copy, click here>> Updates will be published as and when they occur.

Gary Comerford, an Associate at leading construction consultants Bruce Shaw Partnership asks what are the main drivers that influence costs in healthcare building? A senior member of Bruce Shaw’s Healthcare division, Gary has managed costs on many of the largest and most challenging healthcare projects in Ireland and is currently responsible for the Mater and Children’s Hospital, and St. John's in Enniscorthy.  He spoke exclusively at the recent CMG Events’ Health & Education Construction Conference 2009. Click here to see his presentation >>

Department of Education’s capital programme The full 2009 School Building Programme involves €581 million for primary and post-primary projects and €265 million for higher education projects, leaving €43 million unaccounted for in the total €889 million announced by Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe. On top of this allocation €75 million was awarded to the Summer Works Scheme . In addition, there is a fast track building programme planned for 2009, although no price tag had been attached to it at the time the CMG Business Information report went to print. Furthermore, the 2008 Planning and Development Regulations now make way for schools to, under certain circumstances, upgrade and even extend their facilities without needing to avail of planning permission. Within the department’s guidelines a process called Design, Awareness, Research and Technology (DART) is used for tender documents. According to the Department of Education, schools designed and built in accordance with this methodology are capable of being 2.3 times more energy efficient than schools built to best international practice. What are the latest education projects, where are the business opportunities? Click here to find out>> The above is an extract from the CMG Business Information Report 2009 - 2011: Trends, Forecasts and Business Opportunities. Updates will be published as and when they occur. To order your copy, click here>>

€40m NUIG contract		€15m NUI Maynooth scheme
BAM Building has been awarded the construction contract to build a new €40 million engineering building in the National University of Ireland, Galway, resulting in 300 construction jobs.		Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe marked the start of construction of a new €15 million Interdisciplinary Research Building at NUI Maynooth.

Eamonn Conlon, Projects & Construction Partner, A & L Goodbody asks what a common contractual problems in education and health projects and explains how to avoid them. He spoke exclusively at the recent CMG Events’ Health & Education Construction Conference 2009. Click here to see his presentation >>