Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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921. To ask the Minister for Health if he will report on the progress on the National Children’s Hospital; the anticipated completion date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8432/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The new children’s hospital (NCH) project comprises the main hospital on a shared campus at St James’s, and two paediatric Outpatient and Urgent Care Centres at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, and Tallaght University Hospital.

In September 2021, the main contractor on the NCH project, BAM Ireland, substantially completed and handed over the paediatric outpatient and urgent care centre at Tallaght, in line with the contractor's schedule, and the facility opened on 15 November 2021, following a period of operational commissioning. The new facility will accommodate up to 17,000 additional outpatient appointments (General Paediatrics, Specialist and Orthopaedic clinics) and we expect to see more than 25,000 Emergency Care attendances annually based on 2021 activity.

Together with “CHI@ Connolly”, which opened in July 2019, these new facilities will improve access to urgent and outpatient care for a significant number of children. In 2021, there were over 11,000 outpatient attendances at CHI@Connolly and almost 11,300 patients presented for urgent care. More than 95% of those presenting for urgent care at Connolly are able to go home after treatment and waiting lists for general paediatrics significantly reduced within a year of opening.

On the St James’s site, work is ongoing with major milestones reached in 2021, including completion of the concrete frame with over 150,000 cubic metres of concrete poured (weighing over 360,000 tonnes), the topping out of the building (where the highest point on the building was completed- a significant milestone in any construction project), the infill concrete slabs over the steelwork frame, closing in the concourse and, by the end of 2021, the building was largely weather-tight with approximately 17,000 square metres of glazing and 5,800 square metres of external façade installed.

The exterior of the building demonstrates the significant progress made on the project to date.  Inside the NCH, 26 kilometres of internal partitions were installed in 2021, with the fit out of most internal areas now underway, including the south fingers comprising Outpatients, Cardiology Wards, and Therapies spaces, and the ‘Hot Block’ comprising Emergency Department, Critical Care and Theatres. However, the fit out and installation of services in over 6,000 spaces within the building mean that there remains a substantial and complex body of work to be completed.

The NPHDB has advised that the main contractor’s current programme schedule outlines completion can be achieved by December 2023 which would mean the NCH at St James’s could open in the second half of 2024, after the necessary commissioning period. The NPHDB is working to ensure that contractor will meet its own schedule.