Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The irony of two partitionist parties lecturing us about the national interest will not be lost on people watching tonight. For the past hour, this debate has followed a strange but predictable path. We have people on my left acting like tour guides, trying to bring us from Belfast to Brussels and then to London. Let us get back to what this motion of no confidence is about. It is about the Minister for Health, his record and his capacity to manage his Department.

The cost escalation of the national children's hospital is a story of policy failure, from the design of a flawed two-tier procurement process to a €450 million overrun as a result of the inaction and ineptitude of the current Minister for Health. In 2016, touting a price of €650 million, the national children's hospital was described by the then Minister, Deputy Varadkar, as the single biggest capital project in the history of Irish healthcare. It is now the costliest project in the history of Irish healthcare.

I agree this shambles has many faces, and those questions need to be asked into the future. The matter of who signed off on the procurement process and why is only one of those questions. From the consultant documentation that has been drip-fed to those of us on Oireachtas committees during recent weeks those failures have become more and more clear. This was all under the stewardship of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. In 2014, the procurement strategy report presented to the development board of the hospital stated that there were advantages and risks to a two-stage process. They were clearly outlined. The process saw contractors chosen, contracts signed, cement poured and money paid before a final price had been agreed. This was all under the stewardship of the current and former Ministers for Health. Among the risks was the pressure this approach would put on the design team, which, in turn, could lead to cost escalations. Another risk was that this sort of contract was completely untested and untried in this State. This was acknowledged in the documentation. Both these risks have come to pass under the stewardship of the Minister, Deputy Harris. This was a high-risk strategy that sacrificed value-for-money and cost certainty for a quick build at whatever the final price would be.

According to the report, another advantage was that if the maximum price became too costly to the taxpayer, then a strategic change could be made to change course and lower costs, but this did not happen. Again, this was decided under the stewardship of the Minister, Deputy Harris.

Strategic change is not the business of civil servants. It requires the leadership and the engagement of a Minister. Otherwise, what are Minsters for? Regardless of the public relations being spun by this Government, the facts are quite simple. In July 2018 the members of the development board, in the midst of these escalating costs, requested that the Minister, Deputy Harris, reappoint them in the interests of maintaining stability. I will quote from a response I received from the Minister yesterday. He said he reappointed the whole board. This was not done by Fianna Fáil or Sinn Féin or the taxpayers. It was the Minister himself who did it. Before doing so, the Minister said, in reply to a parliamentary question, that he had no conversation with the development board, that he did not assess the performance of the board and that he did not see whether it was doing a good job. The Minister got a request, signed off on it and asked no questions. For me, that is a direct failing on his part. It should be looked at and, obviously, has consequences.

The next issue is the overrun of the project of at least €191 million and as much as €400 million dating from 27 August. This information was given to no one. The Minister for Health withheld it from his own Minister for Finance and from the Cabinet. Three days later, the sub-committee dealing with the matter asked everyone on the board to sign a confidentiality agreement. Maybe those involved asked the Minister to sign a confidentiality agreement as well given that he did not tell anyone about it.

There are many reasons - I do not have time to go into all of them - the Minister is not up to this. We are spending €11 billion in the coming years - thanks to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe - on health capital projects. We need a Minister who will have his eye on the ball in respect of those capital projects or that €11 billion could easily become €13 billion or €15 billion. That is our money – taxpayers' money. The Minister is not fit for the job and he should go.

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