Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach's approach here is one of shrugging the shoulders and keep writing the cheques with no one held to account. That is why the public are outraged when they see this and why they are outraged by what they are seeing unfold in RTÉ. It is that type of insider culture. At the very heart of this is 100,000 children who are on waiting lists. There are 290 children with scoliosis who need life-changing operations and there is a hospital that was supposed to be built when the Taoiseach was Minister for Health and announced this project for €650 million. It has ballooned. It is out of control. The cheques just keep getting written and there is no accountability whatever. Two weeks ago we were hearing the completion date was March, then the Minister said it was still March and then a couple of days later it was May. Then we heard from the Taoiseach that it might be the end of the year and for the first time we are hearing that it might be 2025.

The problem at the core of this is that the Government does not have a clue what is happening with the national children's hospital. It cannot tell us how much it will cost and when it will be built. The one thing we know is that it is out of control. It was supposed to cost €650 million. We should have three national children's hospitals for the price we are paying for this one. No one is disputing we need it.

The board is telling us there is a go-slow going on with the national children's hospital and the Government is asleep at the wheel. Where is accountability going to come? Can the Taoiseach give us a final figure? Has he any confidence at all about when this hospital will open its doors to the people and the children of Ireland?

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