Results 19,801-19,820 of 45,789 for speaker:Simon Harris
- 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: On the specific services question from the Deputy and the point he raised about it just being a hole in the ground, he said approximately €80 million had been spent on the project but, as I said earlier - and he may not have been in the House - €234.64 million had been spent as at the end of 2018. Far from this project just being a hole in the ground-----
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: I want to put the answers on the record because there are parents who would like to know how these services will affect their children rather than rhetoric.
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: Some €235.64 million had been spent by the end of 2018 and far from just being a hole in the ground, part of this hospital facility at Connolly hospital, which I hope the Deputy visits, will open this summer to start serving our children. The X-ray facilities were delivered to that facility only this week.
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: They were very good; they were very forensic. The NPHDB has the legal responsibility to sign and issue contracts. That is the answer to the first question. On the second question, parts one and two, PwC was chosen because it was drawn off a framework that the HSE has in place. The HSE appointed it. Regarding the cost of the report, there is a daily rate for that company so that is the...
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Wallace. He is one of the few people in the House who can speak with authority on this subject and I thank him for his reasonable points, which I have been noting down furiously. The first point to make about the decision makers and how we got to this process is this: some version of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board has been in place since 2007. That was a...
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: I will take that.
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will deal with the question on EU procurement because it falls within his remit. As Deputy Bríd Smith correctly stated, we have already indicated on a number of occasions in reply to parliamentary questions why it was decided to have a two-stage procurement process. PwC will continue to analyse the appropriateness of all of those matters....
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: No.
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: I have answered that question. No. the Government's procurement strategy in 2015 was decided and endorsed by the Government's contracts committee on construction and was ultimately-----
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: Deputy Bríd Smith may not agree with or like the answers but they are-----
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: Deputy Bríd Smith does not like the answers because she has decided that they are something to do with a construction company which she is going to keep naming on the record of the House, as is her right. I am not actually sure whether it is her right to keep naming companies on the record of the House but that is her choice. I am outlining to her the process the Government went...
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: The assessment of the performance of contracts is a matter for the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, funnily enough, and not me and the Deputy on the floor of the Dáil. That is not what we do. We do not discuss construction companies on the floor of the Dáil.
- National Children's Hospital: Statements (13 Feb 2019)
Simon Harris: I enjoy answering questions but it is nice to get a chance to answer the questions. I am not going to come in here and comment on the performance of companies in this country. We have laws in regard to procurement and laws in regard to contract, and we have an entity called the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board which places and monitors contracts.