Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

As Deputies will be aware, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board exists to procure the planning, design, construction and fit-out of the new national children's hospital at the St. James's campus in Dublin and of two satellite paediatric outpatient and urgent care centres at Tallaght and Connolly hospitals, respectively. When they have been commissioned, all three facilities will be operated by Children's Health Ireland, which was formally established with effect from 1 January 2019. To date, the development board has been funded fully by State grants provided by the HSE. In 2018, the board's expenditure amounted to €127.6 million, representing an addition to the value of fixed assets recorded in the financial statements. Total accumulated project capital costs to the end of 2018 amounted to just under €260 million, inclusive of VAT.