Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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615. To ask the Minister for Health the progress made on the development of the National Children's Hospital since the selection of the site at St. James last autumn; the timelines for the next steps in the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23735/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The new children’s hospital is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and the largest project within the current Capital Plan. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) is the body charged with building the hospital.

I intend to restructure the NPHDB so that its sole focus is on the core function of planning, designing, building and equipping the new hospital, and that its membership includes the expertise needed to deal with a very large and complex capital project.

Pending the necessary appointments to the NPHDB, senior officials from my Department and the HSE, appointed to the NPHDB in January 2013, have been working to progress the project at its new location. In this first phase of the project, the transitional Board's focus is on reconciling the brief with the new site, site preparation, close-out of existing contracts and new procurement processes.

A joint group involving the HSE and St James's Hospital are meeting regularly to progress the enabling and decant work required; a shared services group is in place focusing on identifying the facilities which can be shared so as to optimise the build; and a review of urgent care centre(s) configuration is underway and is expected to be complete within the coming weeks.

The contract notice for the procurement of a new design team is expected to be published in the coming weeks. The aim is to have the new design team in place within six months and to secure planning permission by December 2014. Work on developing a detailed project timeline is continuing under the transitional Board, recognising the urgency and priority attached to the project, as well as its scale and complexity.

I can assure the Deputy that as a key objective in the programme for Government the building of the new children’s hospital will be kept under continuous review and validation by those to be charged with project delivery.