Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am a big supporter of the children's hospital on its current site so I am happy Mr. Barry has taken up the role and that, finally, we can get this project delivered.

He has answered a number of historical questions but I want to focus on where we go now. Driving by the St. James's Hospital site, one can see that it is coming out of the ground, yet there is still commentary on the site in the media and in political circles; we had a debate again in the Dáil last night. Mr. Barry might briefly outline to the committee the status of the project. There is a suggestion that there is a hole in the ground and nothing else. Initially, Mr. Barry might outline the reality of what is on the ground. As Deputy Durkan said, there has been medical politics, regular politics and all sorts of groups involved in this project but we now have to consider how to finish this hospital.

I understand there is some commentary on the estimates issue and that perhaps it involved poor calculation of quantities and inflation within the market at the time of design. There has been mention of de-scoping. We all know that if we want a fancy kitchen sometimes we have to forgo the curved cupboards or the brass taps or put whatever covering on the floors. In terms of de-scoping and pulling back on costs, can Mr. Barry say yet if there is any room to do that? There is a portion of aluminium cladding on the outside and some stone work. I have not studied the entire building but Mr. Barry might set in stone today - excuse the pun - if we can put an end to this de-scoping conversation or is there room for a cost saving in the future?

There has been a conversation about the 6,000 rooms. It is almost as if there is no need for 6,000 rooms but that is an issue for anyone who has been in an intensive care unit or high dependency children's ward. Mr. Barry might elaborate on the number of rooms off a main room that would be needed. I am aware that Crumlin Hospital is currently jammed. There are no treatment rooms. With regard to isolation for chemotherapy, children are immunocompromised, so we are not talking about 6,000 regular little rooms. Mr. Barry might elaborate on that for the committee.

There has been a lot of conversation about fire safety. I want to make sure the message gets out, if it is correct, that there are safe burn times and that there is no issue with the provision of car parking in the basement. On cladding and finishes, in light of what happened in Grenfell Tower, is Mr. Barry satisfied that our children will be safe if a fire breaks out and that there will be the proper response times to get them out of the building?

Equipment comes under his remit. Does equipment mean computers as in fixed hardware, telephones, kettles and such items or does it mean MRI and X-ray machines, or is it all of those? I do not know if there has been a discussion on how we will go forward in that regard. Approximately two years ago, we, as a committee, discussed how we should go about maintenance of equipment. I raised here the fact that there are always issues with the maintenance people in a hospital when it comes to taking on new roles and training in terms of depreciation of equipment. Equipment is often leased in the retail sector now and there is a maintenance contract. If the retail and commercial sectors are doing that, it tends to be the best option. Are Mr. Barry and his team looking into that model, which will involve owning the telephones, the computers and such items? However, when it comes to large, expensive machines which may be rendered quickly out of date, how will that bill be divvied up?