Children's hospital funding
Deputy Healy-Rae asked whether overruns on the new children’s hospital would reduce funding for a promised community hospital in Kerry. The Taoiseach said the hospital is for all Ireland and that capital spending would need to be reprofiling because of the extra cost.
What will be the result of the doubling of the cost of the children's hospital in Dublin, which is being built in wrong place? Will it have an adverse effect on places like Kerry, where we were promised a new community hospital, which people are crying out for? Where is this extra funding going to come from? Will it be at the cost of a place like Kerry not getting a new community hospital in Killarney? It is a very serious matter and people are very concerned.
Comment on this
The children's hospital may be located in Dublin but it is a children's hospital for all of Ireland and sick children from Kerry who need specialist care will get that specialist care in that hospital. It will be one of the best in the world, with over 300 beds, individual rooms, rooms for parents to stay overnight, five MRI machines and 15 theatres. It is going to be a hospital of enormous value for all the country and we should never forget that when it comes to this debate.
As a result of the higher cost of building it, it will be necessary to reprofile capital expenditure and that means about €100 million will need to be found this year - €50 million from the Department of Health and €50 million divided across the other 15 or 16 Departments. It is being worked on at the moment by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as to where that is going to fall. We do not anticipate it requiring the cancellation of any projects but it does mean some projects may be delayed.