Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Leanann an farce faoi ospidéal náisiúnta na leanaí. Ní féidir leis an bhord a insint dúinn go fóill cén uair a bheas an t-ospidéal seo críochnaithe agus cén chostas deiridh a bheidh aige. Níl dabht ar bith ach go bhfuil gá leis an ospidéal seo a bheith foscailte do leanaí na hÉireann. Tá cuntasacht de dhíth fosta ón phobal agus na moilleanna agus na costais ag dul in airde agus in airde.

People are absorbing two serious scandals regarding taxpayers' money. The payment fiasco at RTÉ has dominated politics for weeks and the debacle of the construction of the national children's hospital deepens with costs that are out of control. Members of the hospital's development board will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health tomorrow. Their opening statement is mind-blowing. It charts a farcical story of delay, massive cost overrun, a developer allowed to run amok and a government that has no control whatsoever over the construction of what will be one of the most expensive hospitals in the world.

At least €2 billion of taxpayers' money has been invested in this hospital and yet the board, the Government or the developer still cannot tell us when the doors will open and when the children of Ireland will be able to use the hospital. Nor can they tell us what the final bill will be. They say that the developer, BAM, has failed to deliver a contract programme that is compliant to deliver the hospital on time and on budget. We have zero clarity on the final cost of this project. The board has now submitted a further request to the Department for more money to get the hospital built. The board is writing cheques to BAM while at the same time expressing anger with BAM over how the developer is failing to deliver. It beggars belief. It is clear that nobody is in charge of the project and that it has become a runaway train.

The Minister for Health is clearly asleep at the wheel on the issue. Last week he made light of the concerns that I and my party raised regarding the design flaws in half of the hospital's operating theatres and the serious consequences this could have. We now learn from the board's opening statement that there is not one expert review, but two expert reviews into this same issue. Meanwhile the Government is happy just to stand on the sidelines, shrug the shoulders and say, "Sure, write another couple of cheques for another couple of hundred million; what does it matter?" The public looking on at this farce know they are being ripped off and know they are being taken for fools.

When the Taoiseach was Minister for Health this hospital was supposed to have cost us €650 million. It now has a price tag of €2 billion. Costs have more than trebled. We were supposed to have a national children's hospital years ago.

Then it became August 2022, then May 2024 and now the board says it cannot even guarantee that timeframe. Once again, the public is looking on and seeing a complete mess and a Government that is holding nobody to account for the mismanagement of hundreds of millions of euro of taxpayers' money.

The scandal at RTÉ and the debacle in relation to the national children's hospital are the outworking of that type of the insider culture of entitlement and that type of incompetence fostered by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments down through the years. The broken culture we have here is the reason we have a housing emergency, our health services are creaking at the seams and countless young people are deciding to emigrate, believing they have been forced to do so. People want change. The Taoiseach can shake his head all he wants but young people are making the decision to leave because of this type of culture. They want change. They want better for themselves, their family and the children of this State. They want the children’s hospital built.

We have more than 100,000 children on hospital waiting lists and 290 children with scoliosis waiting for life-changing surgery. The Ombudsman pointed out that one of them who was waiting five years. That is a disgrace. The national children's hospital needs to be completed and opened for those children and many more.

My question is very simple. Will the Taoiseach tell us, as a former Minister for Health and current Taoiseach, when this hospital will open its doors to the public? Is he confident the May date the Minister gave just two weeks ago will be achieved? What is the final bill? Will he hold anybody to account for the fact costs have now tripled?

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