Results 25,961-25,980 of 46,267 for speaker:Simon Harris

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: I was pleased to visit Bantry recently with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, and, indeed, the Deputy was there. All of the commitments that have been made regarding Bantry will be delivered. I will respond to him in writing on some of the specific questions but there is no impact on those important projects. However, children in west Cork will sadly get sick as well...

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: This is a national project to transform-----

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: -----paediatric healthcare in our country. On how we will find the money, as I outlined yesterday, the Department of Health will make a contribution to meet the costs from a budget that we provide to the HSE for equipment, replacement and infrastructural risk. This budget was extraordinarily low during the recessionary years. We received a large increase in that budget in 2019 and we will...

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: I absolutely will not change the decision that the Government made and that successive Governments have endorsed on moving ahead with this. I have listened to so many politicians in different parties who have been involved in debates over the years about the location of the site. At some point, a decision has to be made and we have to get on with delivering a hospital. It was first...

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: -----a national children's hospital. We are building it on a site adjacent to St. James's Hospital. We are doing that for good clinical reasons endorsed by many paediatricians today. That work is under way. We have invested €235 million in the development of this project-----

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: I believe we have. To do anything other than that would be scandalous.

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: No, I did not.

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: There are a number of questions there and I will answer them as quickly as I can so as not to take the Deputy's time. I did not know about an overrun of potentially €400 million. We will not debate that point, other than to say that it is quite clear that some of that was a claim from a contractor, which was not accepted by the board and which, through very robust negotiation and...

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: I will not interrupt the Deputy's time but the €200 million was reduced to €60 million so it shows how coming in here and putting partial information on the record of the House or putting partial information to the Minister for Finance does not lead to better decision-making. The Deputy asked what the three options were and I published the document that outlined them last Thursday.

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: The Deputy asked me what the three options were-----

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: I believe she did but if she did not, that is okay. The three options and the reference to the impact they would have on delaying the project and on additional costs to the project are outlined on page 2 of a memorandum dated 9 November, which I published last Thursday to provide Members with full transparency. The Deputy asked if I knew about Hamburg and I am not familiar with that...

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: The Deputy, as a former Minister of State in my Department who did good work there on primary care, knows that it is not all about beds. It is an awful lot more than beds so beds is not a fair comparison. When one looks at sq. m-----

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: What I certainly have not done is cost moving this to another site at this stage because we made that decision. In fact, the previous Fine Gael and Labour Government made the decision on the site. I believe it was the right decision and we have invested €235 million of taxpayer's money in delivering it. On the maternity hospital, I do not have the costings here but I will certainly...

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: It is a separate development.

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: The Deputy does not want me to repeat previous answers but I have outlined the rationale behind why the two-phase project was decided. I will not put it on the record of the House again. The Government signed off on the figure of €983 million in April 2017. The Deputy makes a fair point regarding what happened with the elasticity in respect of phase B. How could the Government of...

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: I do not have that information. I will ask the NPHDB to provide it to me, as I am sure the Taoiseach probably has since the Deputy raised it yesterday. I will refer back to him directly.

National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: I will do that.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Reimbursement Service Payments (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Consultancy Contracts Data (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is not immediately available. I have surveyed the Department and the collated replies will be prepared into a full response to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Consultancy Contracts Data (13 Feb 2019)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is as set out hereunder - Ernst & Young (EY) - Independent Expert Review of Delayed Discharges The total amount paid in 2018 was €71,955.00 and reflected a fee in respect of a team. Deloitte Ireland - Provision of Actuarial and Insurance Advisory Services The total amount paid in 2018 was €69,021.45. Advice is provided as and...