Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For some reason, the Taoiseach withheld that information from the Dáil. Why did he not provide the full figure on that date when I raised the issue in the House? The Minister, Deputy Harris, and his Department were told about the escalating costs in August, but apparently the Cabinet was only informed in December. Why was that the case? Why were the Cabinet and the Dáil not kept accurately informed of developments in regard to the cost of the hospital? By any yardstick, this is extraordinary stuff. It has gone from a cost of €650 million in 2016 to €1.7 billion in 2018.

The children's hospital in Stockholm became a famous outlier on its construction. It was built at a cost of €2.1 billion, far in excess of the estimated cost, but, at least, it provided 1,340 beds. At a current cost of €1.7 billion, our hospital will provide 473 beds. Not an additional bed will be provided as a result of the extraordinary increase in expenditure.

In spite of a near trebling of the cost, there has been no satisfactory explanation or accountability. It beggars belief. It reveals a chronic lack of political oversight in terms of the approach to the expenditure on the project. In reply to Deputy Cowen in the House in September 2018, the Minister, Deputy Harris, stated that the total budget was a little more than €1 billion. Six weeks later, that became €1.7 billion. Was the Dáil misled in December? Why were the true figures hidden? Was it because of the budget discussions that were ongoing? Was a decision made to keep the cost of this project overrun hidden from public view? The Taoiseach may remember that budget discussions were ongoing in regard to the significant Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Health on the current spending side and whether it was going to be more than €700 million or close to €1 billion. However, there was not a murmur about overruns on the capital side at the new children's hospital even though certain people knew it would hit €1.7 billion. It is impossible to reconcile the Minister's reply in September 2018 with the reality of the €1.7 billion cost that emerged in a Cabinet memo in December.

When was the Taoiseach first made aware of the escalating cost of the children's hospital? When was the Minister for Health first made aware of it? Does the Taoiseach agree that this issue demands a public inquiry, preferably through an Oireachtas committee, with full compellability, openness and transparency?

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