The contractor at the centre of the schools building controversy has been awarded a contract to build a new ward at University Hospital Limerick.
The HSE awarded a contract for a new block of wards at the hospital to Western Building Systems earlier this year.
The Department of Education is pursuing legal action against the developer after schools it built were found to have structural defects.
40 schools need permanent remediation works - with temporary measures required at 17 schools to allow them reopen this month as planned.
The €14 million contract for the 60 bed development was signed in May.
The UL Hospital Group says the contract is progressing well and it expects the new beds to be open in time for Winter 2020.
In a statement, the group explained: "The proposal to provide a fast track ward block at UHL was initiated during 2018.
"Following a public procurement process by the HSE, the successful bidder was Western Building Systems. Funding to progress the project was subsequently included in the HSE Capital Plan 2019."
It adds: "The new ward block is anticipated to be completed by Quarter 3 2020 with the new beds envisaged to be operational in time for winter 2020."
Last week, Western Building Systems said it was committed to working with the Department of Education to "resolve the issues on all schools identified".
The firm has called for a speedy independent review, saying it wants to find out why schools previously certified by the Department's own assessors "were suddenly deemed to have defects".
