Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While the Government fully supports the project, the additional costs associated with it are of great concern and we must have assurances that phase B of the construction project will be delivered within budget and timescale. Accordingly, the Government has approved the commissioning of an independent review of the escalating costs and the effective management of public funds. Arrangements for the commissioning of the independent review are under way. The hospital development board will be required to provide ongoing assurances that phase B of the project is being delivered within budget and timescale.

Development is also well advanced on the two paediatric outpatient and urgent care centres at Connolly and Tallaght hospitals. Works at Connolly are on target for practical completion of the building in spring 2019, with the opening scheduled for July 2019. Works at Tallaght are under way with a target handover date of July 2020, while the main hospital is to be completed in 2022. Integration of the three existing paediatric hospitals, the opening of the outpatient and urgent care centres and the transfer of services to the new hospital facilities represent a highly complex project in its own right. The recent establishment of Children's Health Ireland under the Children's Health Act 2018 to run the children's hospital supports the major programme of work of service and clinical integration required to run integrated services on the existing children's hospital sites and commissioning required to achieve a successful transition to the new facilities when they open.

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