St Loman’s Hospital, Mullingar (file pic).

HSE looking to offload four Westmeath sites

The HSE have indicated that they are looking to sell four sites in Westmeath.

Rochfortbridge Health Centre, Rochfortbridge, Part of St Loman’s Hospital, Mullingar, St Peter’s Hospital, Castlepollard, and lands at Rochfortbridge were identified by the public health and social care service provider as “surplus to HSE requirements”.

Longford Westmeath TD Sorca Clarke recently raised the issue in the Dáil when she asked the minister for health to provide a list of all the HSE owned buildings in counties Longford and Westmeath currently for sale or going through a defined process to facilitate a sale.

In her parliamentary question, Deputy Clarke defined the “process to facilitate a sale” as including surveys or assessments to prepare them for sale.

In their reply, the Health Service Executive referred to their ‘Property Protocol’ for when a property is “deemed surplus to HSE requirements”.

The reply said: “Any properties deemed surplus to HSE requirements are listed on the Office of Public Works Property Mapping Register Viewer and are available in the first instance for acquisition by other State entities.

“If no expression of interest is received during this process, the property is then disposed of in line with the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Reform Circular Policy for Property Acquisition and for Disposal of Surplus Property.”

The list of existing vacant HSE buildings and lands in Longford and Westmeath which are deemed surplus to HSE requirements also include three properties in Longford; Hillcrest, Longford, 4 The Demesne, Longford, and Legga Health Centre, Legga, Longford.