Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I want to welcome the Ceann Comhairle's earlier statement. The integrity of the voting process is at the centre of our democracy. Whether it is people going to the polling station to cast their vote on election day or referendum day or whether it is Deputies or Senators voting in these Houses, people need to know the system is robust and valid. I welcome the fact you have acted swiftly, that an investigation is being carried out, that there will be a report this week and I welcome the fact the Deputies concerned will be invited to make statements to the House on Thursday to explain their roles in all of this.

On the Deputy's question, the cost of the capital element of the national children's hospital project, as agreed by Government in December 2018, is €1.433 billion. There has been no change in the Government decision since then, and that includes VAT. The €1.433 billion is the cost of the capital build in the project. That is the main hospital at the St. James' Hospital campus, as well as the urgent care centres at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown and at Tallaght University Hospital. There have been references to figures such as €1.7 billion or even €2 billion but those figures can only be approached when lots of other elements of the project are included such as ICT equipment, the electronic health record and the entire cost of the children's hospital integration programme - which is decommissioning Crumlin and Temple Street hospitals and is moving those hospitals to the new site. Those figures also include pre-2013 expenditure on the failed attempt to build the national children's hospital at the Mater Hospital, which I know the Deputy will be familiar with, having been involved in same. They also include the children's research and innovation centre, as well as contingency provision. There is also a clause in the contract to allow for an uplift if the rate of construction inflation exceeds 4%.

These figures we often hear used such as €1.72 billion, are much more than the cost of the project at St. James' Hospital. People are including Connolly, Tallaght and the Mater project that never happened, as well as the moves out of Crumlin and Temple Street, the cost of ICT equipment, the electronic health record, the entire integration programme and the research and innovation centre.

On claims, as was stated last June at the joint committee, it is possible, as is the case in any construction contract, for a contractor to make claims for additional expenditure that was not covered in the contract.

Where those occur they are independently assessed before any decision is made on whether they should be granted.

With regard to the resignation of Mr. Paul Quinn from the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, it happened in July 2019 and is not news and certainly not new news. He has not resigned from his day job working as a civil servant but he has resigned from his position on the board. His decision on this is a matter for himself. I do not know the reasons for it nor do I have any reason to believe there is a conspiracy theory behind it.

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