Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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256. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost of the national children’s hospital; the estimated costs of the enabling work, construction and fit-out in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38284/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has statutory responsibility for planning, designing, building and equipping the new children's hospital. I have referred your question to the NPHDB for direct reply.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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257. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost of the information and communications technology systems for the new national children’s hospital; the person or body contracted to provide the systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38285/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Investment in ICT will be funded through the ICT capital programme. The allocation for ICT in the new children’s hospital is €149 million (estimate based on market soundings). This includes the costs for an Electronic Health Record, which will be procured separately.

I have been advised that contracts for the implementation of ICT at the new children's hospital have not yet been awarded. Open procurement processes will be used to source all ICT and to select the successful vendors.

The new Children's hospital will also benefit from the phased implementation of a small number of national systems that are being deployed in all acute hospitals in the coming years. These deployments are funded separately from national ICT capital budgets.

The implementation of ICT into the new children's hospital supports my Department's eHealth strategy and commitments under the Sláintecare Action Plan to progress the development of clinical ICT systems, to realise the ambition and benefits associated with opening the facility as a digital hospital and to provide the required infrastructure to support effective clinical decision making.