National children's hospital cost overrun
Deputy Doherty attacked escalating costs and delays on the national children's hospital and asked about a further request for money. The Taoiseach said the €1.433 billion allocation had not increased, more claims were disputed, and the final cost was still unknown.
Yesterday I raised the issue of the national children's hospital with the Taoiseach and the need to have it built and open for the children of Ireland. It has been delayed time and again and is now the most expensive hospital in the world. The Government has lost all control and credibility when it comes to the national children's hospital.
Today at the health committee we learned that, of the 3,000 rooms that should have been completed by now, only 27 are completed. Also at the committee, the board confirmed it has requested even more money from the HSE to finish the programme. This is above the €1.7 billion total programme costs. Will the Taoiseach tell us how much additional money the board has requested from Government? Will he clarify if that request is for outstanding claims by the developers or just to complete the work? Will he tell us, once and for all, when this fiasco will end? When will it open, how much will it cost and what is the additional money they are now looking for?
Comment on this
I think I answered that comprehensively yesterday. The allocation for the project is €1.433 billion. That allocation was made in 2018 and has not been increased since. It will cost more than that, as I said in the Dáil yesterday. We cannot say how much more it will cost at this stage because we are disputing the multiple claims for more money made by the contractor. It is clear it will be significantly in excess of €1.433 billion.