Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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78. To ask the Minister for Health the new estimated completion date of the national children’s hospital in view of the recent stoppage of work; if the estimated cost is now likely to exceed the figure of €1.73 billion that was provided in the independent review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16632/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Like many other sectors of the economy, the construction sector was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This resulted in construction related work on the site of the new children’s hospital stopping on 31 March this year due to Covid-19 Restrictions. On 18^thMay the restrictions in respect of the construction sector were eased. From this date, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) engaged with the main contractor to ensure the earliest possible reopening of the sites. I am informed that the main contractor of the New Children’s Hospital project returned to site on the 13^thof July. There will be delays associated with Covid-19, however it is too early to fully assess the impact of the pandemic on the new children’s hospital project and the Paediatric Outpatient and Urgent Care Centre at Tallaght. The NPHDB continues to engage with the contractor and is monitoring progress on site in the interests of completing the project as quickly and economically as possible.

On that note I want to say that I am acutely aware of how urgently the new Children’s Hospital is needed and I want to see it delivered as quickly as possible on behalf of children, young people and their families.

Under the contract, the new children’s hospital is due to be completed by the end of 2022 and handed over to Children’s Health Ireland to open in 2023 after a period of commissioning. As of March 2020, when the site closed due to Covid-19, I am advised that the NPHDB was of the view that the Main Contractor was behind schedule on the construction works.

The NPHDB is continuing to engage with the Main Contractor to obtain an updated programme of works that is in line with its contractual commitments. Any delivery outside of the timelines agreed under the contract could potentially be a matter for dispute resolution and so I wish to be careful in respect of what I say here, but I will reiterate that it is a priority for me and this Government that the hospital be completed as quickly as possible.

The € 1.73 billion figure raised by the Deputy is the total overall project cost advised to the previous Government in December 2018.That figure comprises €1.43 billion which is the overall cost to complete the capital project, and also includes a broader programme of activity associated with the integration and transfer of the services of the three children’s hospitals to the new sites under development. This includes for example investment in ICT, an Electronic Health Record system and the Children's Hospital Integration Programme - the merging of three paediatric hospitals.

The PwC report makes clear that the Guaranteed Maximum Price established through the two-stage tender process does not provide a contractual ceiling on cost and significant residual risks remain of further cost. The residual risks, for which there cannot be cost certainty, include items such as construction inflation, claims and certain uncontrollable risks, such as potential costs relating to BREXIT. I am advised that the main contractor has submitted a significant number of claims which it alleges are outside of the agreed scope.The NPHDB has a robust process in place for the assessment of claims by the Contractor in accordance with the Construction Contract. This process is a commercially sensitive one between the contractor and the NPHDB.