Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to provide an update on progress to date on the new children's hospital. The hospital project includes the main hospital on a shared campus at St. James's Hospital, the outpatient and urgent care centre at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown and the outpatient and emergency care centre at Tallaght University Hospital. In November 2021, the Minister opened the paediatric outpatient and emergency care centre in Tallaght, which will accommodate up to 17,000 outpatients and 25,000 emergency care patients per year. It is the second major milestone delivered on the national children's hospital project after the facility at Connolly Hospital opened in July 2019. In 2021, over 13,000 outpatients attended at Connolly and over 11,000 patients attended for urgent care. More than 95% of those presenting for urgent care could go home after treatment and waiting lists for general paediatric procedures reduced significantly within a year of the facility's opening.

I acknowledge that the national children's hospital project has had its difficulties and delays. It is important to acknowledge the great progress also being made at the main building at the St. James's campus. In 2021 the building was topped out to its highest level and the final significant concrete pours were made. The stone and glazed facade is now largely complete and sections of external scaffolding are now being taken down to reveal the fantastic structure. Internal fitting out of all clinical areas is now under way. The building was also recently connected to the ESB network, which is another important project milestone.

Nevertheless, this remains a complex project with more than 40,000 activities detailed in the contractor's programme to complete the over 6,000 room spaces in the new hospital. The capital budget approved by the Government for the new children's hospital is €1.433 billion. There are a number of items not included in this investment figure as there was no price certainty for them, and these include construction inflation greater than 4% and the impact of Covid-19. The capital budget has not been depleted, with just over €960 million drawn down to date. In addition to the capital project, there is a broader programme of activity, including new information and communications technology and electronic health record development and integration and transfer of the services of the three children's hospitals to the new sites. That will bring about a total overall programme cost of €1.73 billion.

The contractor's schedule suggests substantial completion can be achieved by December 2023. This could allow the hospital to open in the second half of 2024 after the necessary commissioning period. The development board and contractor are working to do everything they can to ensure this new substantial completion date and opening can be met. However, there remains external risks to this project, as with many other construction projects, arising from Brexit, the pandemic and global supply chain difficulties. The invasion of Ukraine will undoubtedly have compounded such issues. As delays are the biggest contributors to cost, everything possible is being done to ensure the project can be completed as soon as possible.