National Children's Hospital

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022

Tuesday, 5 April 2022

Questions (689)

Brian Stanley

Question:

689. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health when his Department will be in a position to publish the final and total cost of expenditure for the National Children’s Hospital. [17567/22]

Written answers

Minister for Health

The new Children’s Hospital (NCH) project comprises the main hospital on a shared campus at St James’s, the Outpatient and Urgent Care Centre at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, and the Outpatient and Emergency Care Centre at Tallaght University Hospital.

In 2018, Government approved a capital budget of €1.433bn for the NCH project. This included the capital costs for the main hospital at St James's Hospital campus, the two satellite centres, equipment for the three sites, and the construction of the carpark and retail spaces. The capital budget has not yet been depleted but there will be additional costs associated with delays and to date, €963.75m of the €1.433bn budget has been drawn down for works on the project across the three sites.

There are a number of items not included in this investment figure as there was no price certainly for them and nor can there be, for some, for the duration of the project. These include construction inflation, the impact of Covid-19, statutory changes, any change in scope resulting in healthcare policy changes, and the Employment Order.

Additional costs in relation to the integration and transfer of the services of the three children’s hospitals to the new sites brings the total programme cost to €1.73bn. This includes investment in ICT, a new Electronic Health Record system and the Children's Hospital Integration Programme (the merging of three paediatric hospitals) including commissioning.

Brexit, the pandemic and recent geopolitical developments have severely impacted supply chains and NCH project is not immune to these external challenges. Every effort is being taken to mitigate the risks but these externalities beyond the control of the contractor and the NPHDB make speculation and more definitive forecasting unwise.