Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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473. To ask the Minister for Health if he will revise the location of the children's hospital in view of the increase in costs for the hospital at the St. James's site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8556/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The project to develop the new children’s hospital is an extraordinary opportunity to enhance paediatric services for children. The Government decision in 2012 to locate the hospital on St James’s Hospital campus was made in the best interests of children from a clinical perspective. St. James's has the broadest range of national specialties of all our acute hospitals, in addition to a strong and well-established research and education infrastructure, making it the hospital that best meets the criteria to enable the children’s hospital achieve our vision of excellence in modern paediatric practice.

A major milestone was achieved in this long awaited, much needed project when An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission in April 2016 to build a state of the art hospital on a campus shared with St. James’s Hospital, together with two Paediatric Outpatients and Urgent Care centres at Tallaght Hospital and Connolly Hospital. The first phase of construction (site clearing works) on the site of the new children’s hospital began in August 2016 and will be substantially completed within a matter of weeks. Following decades of discussions and debates, Ireland is about to get the new children’s hospital that it badly needs and deserves. A world class design, with child-friendly, high spec, modern interiors and acres of outdoor space has been completed. Hundreds of staff from the three children’s hospitals continue to input into the fit out and internal design to ensure that the children, young people and their families can be treated in the best possible environment – helping to improve clinical outcomes as well as overall well-being and patient experience.

The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board was appointed in 2013 to design, build and equip the new children’s hospital for children, young people and families in Ireland. An internationally recognised design team supported by an experienced Board and Project Team are in place, have followed best international design, planning and procurement process at each stage of the project and are now in a position, subject to Government approval, to appoint a contractor to deliver this long awaited hospital. The new children’s hospital will open and provide services to children and young people in Ireland in 2021, and the Urgent Care Centres at Tallaght Hospital and Connolly Hospital will open on a phased basis from 2018.

The Project Team, during the design, planning and tendering phases, has constantly monitored the external environment – tracking construction inflation and market costs. The cost estimate for the core construction elements of the new children’s hospital and the Paediatric Outpatients and Urgent Care centres at Tallaght and Connolly Hospitals was prepared in early 2014. This estimate, prepared at a time when annual construction inflation predicted at 3% per annum, was €650m.

The recently concluded tendering process for the main construction works determined the actual market cost of the construction elements of the project. Due to annual construction inflation rising from 3% in 2013 to more than 9% in 2017 and the lengthened project timeline in the planning, design and procurement process, the cost of the core construction of the hospital and Paediatric Outpatients and Urgent Care Centres has increased from the original estimate. The increase reflects the increasing volume of activity in the Irish construction industry which is having a significant impact on construction inflation. However, I understand that the final construction elements of the project compare favourably to the costs of international projects of a similar size and scale.

The NPHDB and the Children’s Hospital Group Board continue to work closely with the HSE and the Department of Health to deliver this much-needed world-class hospital. My priority, as I have stated before, is to make progress on the new hospital as soon as possible so we can ensure children, young people and their families have the facilities they need and deserve.