Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) to examine 2023 Financial Statements of National Paediatric Hospital Development Board and Children’s Health Ireland

The public meeting at 10.30am in Committee Room 3 of Leinster House with representatives of the NPHDB led by the Chief Executive Officer Mr David Gunning, and CHI led by the CEO Lucy Nugent, who are the Accountable Persons to the Committee. They will be joined by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr Seamus McCarthy. Officials from the Department of Health and representatives of the Health Service Executive (HSE) will also be in attendance.

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy John Brady said: “The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board is responsible for the planning, design, building, equipping and furnishing of the new children’s hospital at the St James’s campus in Dublin, and two paediatric outpatient and urgent care centres at Tallaght and Blanchardstown Hospitals. On completion of the new paediatric hospital, Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) will staff and operate the services in the new facilities.  The satellite centres have been completed and were opened in November 2021 and July 2019, respectively, under CHI management.

“In February 2024, Government approved enhanced capital and current budget sanctions for the Children’s Hospital project and programme, bringing the total approved budget to €2.24 billion. This includes a capital budget of €1.88 billion for designing, building and equipping the NCH and the two satellite centres. A separate €362 million budget is in place for the programme of integration and transition of services to the NCH from the three existing children’s hospitals at Crumlin, Temple Street and Tallaght, including commissioning, ICT, and the Electronic Health Record system.

“The NPHDB and CHI were due to attend the previous PAC on 7 November 2024. However, shortly before their appearance, the NPHDB and CHI wrote to the Committee to advise that they were unable to attend on that date due to key witnesses being ‘unavailable’. The Committee at the time said it was ‘disappointed and concerned’ that the public meeting to examine expenditure related to new National Children’s Hospital could not proceed.

“Key issues for examination with the NPHDB are the expenditure to date, management of project delays and overruns, and management of claims received from BAM, the main contractor for the project. Important matters for the Committee include the accountability of the Board to the Committee for project cost overruns, transparency of cost estimates, the substantial completion date for the project, and lessons learned for other large scale capital projects.

“With regard to CHI, critical matters for the Committee include ensuring steady Children’s Hospital transition implementation, and early provision of full services which will require substantial recruitment, training and rationalisation of services, and ICT transformation projects to ensure electronic patient records.

“The Committee will also examine governance and oversight in respect of clinical controls around medical device implants and alleged issues with the number of hip dysplasia operations carried out, as well as delays in carrying out required surgeries, and the potential for compensation claims. Further issues for examination include material non-compliant procurement, financial losses due to submission of ‘out of time’ claims to insurers, the settlement with the former CEO of CHI, and legal costs and claims settlements.

“This will be the first engagement of the new PAC of the 34^th Dáil and the Committee welcomes this opportunity to meet with Mr Gunning, Ms Nugent and their colleagues to examine the 2023 financial statements of the NPHDB and CHI, and related matters.”

The meeting in Committee Room 3 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

PAC is a standing committee of Dáil Éireann which focuses on ensuring public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money. Further information on the role and remit of the Committee can be found here.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.