Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Will the Taoiseach inform us what the final cost of the new national children's hospital will be? Just over €1.4 billion was the amount agreed at Cabinet but it emerged today at a joint committee that, of 900 claims in total, only a handful have been settled. It now seems inevitable that costs will overrun substantially. The committee was unable to get clarity on this point from the Department or the board. Can the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, tell us what we are looking at in terms of a project that will, it seems, deliver the most expensive hospital ever built anywhere internationally? Will he enlighten us on the date of completion? Will it be completed by December 2023 and open in the first half of 2024?

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