Mr. Derek Tierney:

Like Mr. Gunning, we have submitted a statement. I will not go through it all, and I will just draw on some key point just referencing back to the PwC report. I would like to also thank the committee for extending the invitation to the HSE. In this regard, I welcome my colleague Mr. Martin McKeith, who is the assistant lead director for the children's hospital project and programme.

The HSE plays a vital role in the NCHI project. This is reaffirmed by the role of the lead director emanating from the PwC report of 2019. The new children's hospital on the shared campus at St. James’s Hospital is a key enabler of a major reform programme and acute paediatric services, bringing together three children’s’ hospitals into one and consolidating expertise, research and excellence to ensure the best outcomes for the sickest children of Ireland for generations to come. It remains the most significant capital investment programme undertaken in the healthcare system in Ireland. It is unlike anything that we have ever constructed before, providing 39 clinical specialties in one location, under one roof. This will facilitate the provision of services on a national basis.

Within my statement, I set out some characteristics, as well as the scale of the project, and I do not intend to go through that. I will just say that while 2021 saw significant progress on the exterior, the major focus now in 2022 is on continuing the internal fit-out, with the installation of joinery, such as the nursing stations and the plumbing of the en-suite bathrooms. Those members who were on site, or who intend to visit in the coming weeks, or even indeed members of the public who have recently passed the site, will have noticed that the exterior scaffolding is coming down, the completion of glazing and that the external facade has been completed.

Earlier in the year, the building was connected to a permanent power supply. The main glazed biome structure that encases the feature stairway and lifts is due to be completed in a matter of weeks. It is truly incredible to see what has been delivered in terms of vision, scale, quality and enormity of effort by all the contractors involved under the stewardship of the development board.

Of course, as many of the members will be aware, the construction project is only one part of the three interrelated elements of the national children’s programme for delivery of a new paediatric model of care. The others are the ICT and electronic health record, on which I will give a brief update, and the operational integration of the three existing children's hospitals. Earlier this year, the Government approved the business case for the new electronic health record system. Contracts were signed with the vendor in August of 2022. This represents the most extensive electronic health record, EHR, deployment in Ireland and it builds upon successful EHR programmes at our largest maternity hospitals in St. James's Hospital, which, by the end of 2022 will have reached 70% coverage of our maternity in newborns. Recruitment of the project team to deploy the electronic health record project is under way, with 106 full-time equivalents being recruited as I speak.

While today's focus is on construction of the NCHI, I am also happy to confirm that the wider children's hospital programme is already delivering terms of the two new constructed satellite centres at Connolly and Tallaght. These are open and they are delivering the new model of ambulatory care for children in the greater Dublin area.

Again, as Mr. Gunning outlined in his opening statement, in any project of this scale and ambition, there remain challenges to be mitigated and managed until completion. The Department understands that of the 6,000 spaces that are currently under construction, the first of these will be completed in the coming weeks, ready for system commissioning. The remaining 4,500 clinical rooms will fall on the detailed and planned sequence in the following months. Later on, Mr. Devine will give an overview in terms of the intensity and detail within the commissioning programme. While we are all focused on the capital project works and delivery, we are also focused on the outcomes that these will deliver as part of the wider programme. That is that the children's hospital will deliver world-class facilities and a paediatric model of care that will improve and prioritise medical outcomes for the nation’s sickest children, while bringing around transformational change to the delivery of healthcare for the children of Ireland for generations to come. In other words, this is not a building for 20 or 50 years but, rather, one whose design and construction are being as future-proofed as possible. It is a hospital for the next 100 years and it is one that can adapt as models of care and clinical practice evolve.

Again, I reiterate Mr. Gunning’s invitation to any members of the committee who wish to visit or revisit the site to see its progress first hand. I know that the development board would be happy to facilitate them with this. It is only when you see the facility in person that you get a full appreciation of the vision, scale and difference that this new hospital will make for generations to come.