Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Cullinane for his questions and the succinct manner in which he has put them.

Deputy Cullinane asked about the south east. I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgement earlier of how we work well on these issues. We will meet again to progress issues like the catheterization laboratory shortly.

It is fair to say there was a period of uncertainty for the HSE as it waited to see how Government and the Oireachtas responded to the additional costs. We rectified that by providing certainty in the summer economic statement. The statement provided a reserve, as I said to colleagues, for broadband and the children's hospital. That allowed me to publish a plan not only for 2019 but for 2020 and 2021 as well. It has provided certainty of funding that, frankly, the HSE has been lacking for many a year. We should remember there was no HSE capital plan published the previous year. We would need to go back many years to find a three-year horizon published.

I agree it is entirely reasonable to ask the question. I like being asked questions and trying to answer them as well. The point I need to make is that several members of the board have stepped down. I do not think it is unreasonable for someone who has served for five or six years on a board to decide he has done his bit and brought the project to the stage it is at. The Oireachtas has changed the law. With the Children's Health Act 2018, it voted to allow the Minister new powers to appoint people through the Public Appointments Service. We have a new chairman, Fred Barry. The PwC report said we should augment the skills of the board, so let us get on with doing that.

I do not mean this about Deputy Cullinane, but there is great irony in the fact that many Members jumped up and down and shouted for me to sack the entire board. Then, when a member of the board actually steps down, they bemoan the fact. The reality is that I have thanked the board. The PwC report said it would not have been the right thing to clear out the entire board - that is my paraphrasing. I believe it makes sense at this crucial juncture for the chairman to analyse the skill set, as he has done, advertise in the Public Appointment Service and appoint people. That is what we will now do.

There have been no new design issues since the conclusion of the guaranteed maximum price process or, to be entirely accurate, since the conclusion of the GMP process there has been no change to the design intent for the new children's hospital. There have been some minor adjustments, as would be normal practice in a project of this size. The suggestion that since the GMP process there have been significant changes is not helpful when it is raised on behalf of the taxpayer.

Reference was made to additional costs. The cost remains as outlined to this House. As Fred Barry said on 12 June at the Joint Committee on Health, in a project of this size or in any construction project claims come in all the time. They are commercially sensitive and they have to be robustly defended, if appropriate, by the board. They come in on an ongoing basis. As of now, there are no new additional costs.

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