Seanad debates

Thursday, 31 March 2022

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

National Children's Hospital

10:30 am

Photo of Malcolm ByrneMalcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I am particularly glad he is here because I know he is a straight talker and will be clear in his answers. In many ways, the issue I raise today is a quite straightforward question but it is one about which the entire country has a concern. I ask him to outline the progress on the building of the national children's hospital, the costs to date, the anticipated costs and, most important, the planned opening date.

I noticed that in responding on the previous Commencement matter, he observed that seven years is a long time. As he is aware, the planning and development of the national children's hospital has been going on for more than two decades. Planning permission for the site at St. James's Hospital was secured in 2016. From an initial budget of €983 million in 2017, the budget has grown to €1.7 billion. How much has been spent? What do the Minister of State, the Department and the HSE anticipate will be the final budget before the hospital is open? The most recent opening date we have been given is the second half of 2024.

As I am sure the Minister of State is aware, there are significant concerns in respect of inflation of construction costs and the shortage of labour, the impact that will have and if it has been factored in. This is something the entire country wants. We need a national children's hospital with core specialties and the best possible staff in the world to look after sick children.Everybody wants to see it happen. The Minister of State will appreciate that there is real frustration on the part of the public around some of the capital projects and this one, which is almost a signature capital project, has seen costs appearing to rise and rise again. There does not seem to be a sufficient level of accountability around those rising costs and we, as taxpayers, are picking them up. It is not even certain when the hospital will finally be completed.

It is important, not just today but on a regular basis, that the public be informed about what is happening with this really important capital project. The Minister of State should be able to provide assurances that there are sufficient levels of project and capital management to ensure the budgets are being kept on as tight a rein as possible. The Minister of States knows that one of the difficulties when it comes to major capital projects is that there is often a suspicion that the Government is not controlling expenditure and these costs spiral as a result. Everybody expects that the €1.7 billion will be exceeded, but I would be particularly grateful if the Minister of State could provide some clarity on the matter.

Photo of Frank FeighanFrank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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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.

Photo of Malcolm ByrneMalcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that there will always be external factors that will have an impact but many of the factors contributing to the cost spiral happened prior to Covid-19 and the invasion of Ukraine. I am assured by the Minister of State's comments that the building will be substantially completed by the end of 2023 and that we will have an opening date in 2024. He indicated to me that the overall and final cost should be of the order of €1.73 billion. I assume some of the costs mentioned relating to construction inflation and so on have been factored in. Is the Minister of State confident in saying that the final cost will not exceed that €1.73 billion and that we will definitely have the building open in 2024?

Photo of Frank FeighanFrank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Again, I thank the Senator for raising this matter. It is a great opportunity to provide an update on the new children's hospital, progress on site and the positive impact the new facilities are already having on our young people, their families and our healthcare professionals.

I acknowledge that the national children's hospital project has had its difficulties and delays. It is an extremely ambitious and complex project, and it is important to acknowledge the great progress that has been made. It is very apparent from the outside but internally we have discernible rooms at various stages of progression and over 26 km of internal walls were installed in 2021. I know the development board is once again facilitating site visits and I strongly encourage Senators and other politicians to take the opportunity to visit the site if they have not already done so.

We have a timeline for substantial completion by the contractor of December 2023, to open in 2024 following a commissioning period. The development board will continue to work to ensure that the contractor meets its own commitments.

Photo of Róisín GarveyRóisín Garvey (Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State for his time. He was in the hot seat today. He is great and is always coming to the Seanad. Fair play to him. We really appreciate that because it can be hard to get Ministers to spare the time to come here.

Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 11.17 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar méan lae. Sitting suspended at 11.17 a.m. and resumed at 12 noon.