Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We will look for that clarification. It has been agreed to note and publish that correspondence. I refer to No. 1119, from Mr. Robert Watt, Secretary General, Department of Health, dated 7 March 2022. It provides information requested by the committee on the national paediatric hospital, which arises from our consideration of previous correspondence from the Department on 20 January. It is proposed to note and publish this item. Is that agreed? Agreed. I flagged this for discussion, along with Deputies Catherine Murphy and Carthy.

The letter of 7 March from Robert Watt has six bullet points on the first page.

The question regarding the number of staff on-site and whether staff levels are impacting on construction targets was not answered in the letter. The fourth bullet point provided clarification regarding the discrepancy in the number of design changes previously provided by the board at the meeting of 9 February and the corresponding number provided in this correspondence. That query was not answered either and the clarification was not given. The aspect I wish to highlight is the fifth bullet point concerning further information regarding the two-stage procurement process, why that was chosen and where it was used before. No information was given about that in the letter, unfortunately. It does give the total approved final cost as being €1.73 billion. It will be recalled that when Mr. Watt was here he was not in a position to confirm if that figure would go over €2 billion.

We asked specifically about staff numbers on-site and what impact low levels of staff on-site would have on construction inflation; the number of design changes; and why the two-stage procurement process was chosen and where it might have been used before. I will ask for a further response with more information on those specific questions that we asked. Deputy Murphy also flagged this issue.