Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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362. To ask the Minister for Health his plans on the entire cost of facilitating the new children's hospital at St. James's Hospital, Dublin, and to include all pre-construction costs, together with other costs that are required to facilitate this facility and any cost to be incurred outside of the site which will be necessary in the interest of services and transport requirements that may be necessary; if the overall project costs have been considered, including the cost of equipping the new hospital together with the cost of any issues it would be more appropriate to deal with at this stage in terms of plans to move the Coombe maternity hospital onto the site and the implications that this may have for the national children's hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15092/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) was appointed in 2013 to plan, design, build and equip the new children’s hospital. 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.

The recently concluded tendering process for the main construction works determined the actual market cost of the construction elements of the project. The updated capital costs have been incorporated into the Final Project Brief, which sets out the costs and funding proposals for the construction of the core hospital and satellite centres, including equipment, VAT provision, risk provision, all fees, decant, external works, enabling costs, project management costs, commercial spaces (underground carpark and retail space), higher education facilities, and the Children’s Research and Innovation Centre. It also provides details on two options for the procurement of equipment for the hospital. While I am not in a position to comment on updated costs at this stage, I intend to bring a Memorandum to Government shortly on the new children’s hospital. Full details of the costs will be set out in the Memorandum for Government.

Since the formation of the current NPHDB Board in 2013, costs incurred on the new children’s hospital project on a shared campus with St. James’s as at 31st December 2015 are €36 million. Accounts for 2016 will be available once validated by the Office of the Comptroller & Auditor General. Details of all costs relating to the new children's hospital project have been included in the total costs as set out in the Definitive Business Case which forms part of the Final Project Brief.

The NPHDB is also fully compliant with Section 48 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 which states that "A planning authority may, when granting a permission under section 34, include conditions for requiring the payment of a contribution in respect of public infrastructure and facilities benefiting development in the area of the planning authority and that is provided, or that it is intended will be provided, by or on behalf of a local authority (regardless of other sources of funding for the infrastructure and facilities)".

In relation to the relocation of the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital to the St James's campus, thus achieving tri-location of adult, paediatric and maternity services, a site for the proposed maternity hospital is identified in the Site Master Plan for the St James's campus, and the new children's hospital design has incorporated the required operational links with both maternity and adult hospitals. A planning application has not yet been submitted in relation to the relocation of the Coombe Maternity Hospital to the St James's Hospital Campus. While the construction of the new maternity hospital on the campus will not commence until the new children’s hospital is completed, consideration will be given to the work required to advance the new maternity hospital design, which must be done before a planning application is prepared.