Mr. Greg Dempsey:

I thank the Chairman and Deputies for inviting the Department to join the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board in assisting the committee in its examination of the 2019 annual financial statements. My name is Greg Dempsey. I am the deputy secretary responsible for the governance and performance division in the Department of Health. This includes the newly created strategic capital investment directorate, which has responsibility for major capital investments, including the new children's hospital.

The national paediatric hospital project is the most significant capital investment project ever undertaken in Ireland's healthcare system. The development of the new children's hospital is a Government priority project and will bring together the services currently provided at three children's hospitals into a modern, custom-designed, world-class, digital hospital to deliver the best care and treatment for Ireland's sickest children. As well as playing a central role in the provision of excellent paediatric healthcare services, it will be the primary centre for paediatric education, training and research in Ireland. The project comprises the new children's hospital at St. James's Hospital as well as outpatient and urgent care centres located at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, and Tallaght University Hospital. The construction project forms one of three inter-related elements of the new children's hospital programme for the delivery of a new paediatric model of care in Ireland, the others being the ICT infrastructure and the operational integration of the three existing children's hospitals. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, or the development board, is established under a 2007 ministerial order and has statutory responsibility for planning, designing, building and equipping the new children's hospital and the two satellite centres.

Under that same order, the development board is charged with keeping all proper and usual accounts and all special accounts as the Minister may from time to time require and, additionally, to submit an annual financial statement to the Comptroller and Auditor General for an audit report to be carried out in accordance with the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993. The board's annual financial statements for 2019 were submitted to the Department on 11 August 2020, following the completion of the Comptroller and Auditor General's audit. They were then laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 13 August, pursuant to section 11 of the 1993 Act.

The board receives its capital funding for the project from the HSE as the sanctioning body for the new children's hospital programme. As set out in the 2019 financial statements, costs of €199.6 million were incurred by the board in 2019. I am satisfied by the Comptroller and Auditor General's note as to the completeness and accuracy of the accounts and by my Department's internal review of same.

I will take this opportunity to thank the board for the work it has conducted since it was last before this committee with the Department, including the completion of the additional governance systems and increased resourcing and expertise recommended by the 2019 PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, report. This puts the board in a strong position to deliver the project to completion.

I will also take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the outgoing chair of the board, Mr. Fred Barry, for the work he has done in the past few years leading the board and this project. I must not forget the sterling work of the other members of the board. For the Department of Health, finding a replacement for Mr. Barry is an immediate priority and officials have already initiated the process to seek to appoint a new chair through the Public Appointments Service. This may take time but it is considered important that we cast the net wide to find the right candidate for this challenging role. In the meantime, and to ensure continuity and leadership, the Minister is likely to seek an interim chair for the board.

I note the significant progress that has made to date on the St. James's Hospital campus despite the challenges that Covid-19 has imposed on us all. The board advises that it has already submitted a progress update to the committee illustrating the activity to date and it is welcome to us all that the distinctive design of the building is now beginning to take shape.

I am aware from the invitation to today's meeting that, in addition to the task of examining the 2019 annual financial statements, committee members have expressed an interest in the timeline and projected costs for the completion of the hospital. The Department acknowledges the responsibilities and duties of the committee and the interest of members in such matters.

A thorough analysis of the project was sought by the Minister in the summer of 2020 and the Department and other stakeholders have been working closely with the development board in the intervening period. The development board and the Department are nearing finalisation of this long and detailed analysis, which includes a determination of potential updates to the timeline and costs of the project. A submission was recently received by the Department and is now subject to review by departmental officials, together with a robust and thorough independent analysis and scrutiny. This is an important quality assurance step to be able to provide assurance as to the validity of the modelling used by the development board to the Government and other stakeholders, including this committee. This detailed analysis is nearing finalisation. Following its completion and submission to the Minister for Health, who commissioned it, an update on the position will be provided to the relevant stakeholders.

It is anticipated to have a final determination before the end of February or in early March. The Department and the development board would be pleased to return to appear before this committee early next month to address the areas of interest to it and will be in a much better informed position at that stage to do so.