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

I thank the Deputies for their questions. The word "challenge" was not the correct term for me to use with respect to the national broadband plan. Imagine sought an extension and this caused a delay at that point. It wanted to use the extension to submit additional maps and so on. To the best of my knowledge, there has been no revision to the State intervention area. The national broadband plan is now with the European Commission, a required process in order to get state aid clearance. We look forward to a positive outcome and if we get that it will enable us to sign the contract before the end of the year and start connecting homes, businesses and farms to high-speed broadband next year all over rural Ireland. It is our objective.

There has been no change to the budget allocated in December 2018 for the national children's hospital. The contractor, however, has submitted claims and these have yet to be adjudicated on. It is not unusual in a major construction project for a contractor to submit claims if it believes it had to carry out work beyond the contract.

The good news is the scaffolding is now at roof level. I would invite anyone who has an interest in the children's hospital to go and visit the site. It really is shooting up as a building.

It is highly impressive that we are at this point now. The first element of the children's hospital, the urgent care centre at Connolly Hospital, has already opened. It is not fully commissioned but it is already open. The outpatient department is operating fully. The urgent care centre is operating from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is already making a difference. The number of children waiting to see a general paediatrician has fallen by 30% already. It is already having a significant impact on waiting lists because those children who were waiting a long time to see a general paediatrician can now be seen in the dedicated outpatient department at the Blanchardstown urgent care centre. It is a new service for people living in west Dublin and Meath and so on. They no longer have to take their children to Temple Street Hospital and can take them to the modern facilities at Connolly Hospital instead. Tallaght will open next year.

This project has been promised for as long as I can remember. I think it was first mooted when I was a medical student. I am very proud of the fact that we are now getting it done and delivering on it when other Governments failed to do so.

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