Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 20 Jun 2023

The children of Ireland need a national children's hospital. It's an essential piece of infrastructure and families' hopes are on this hospital opening its doors and providing state-of-the-art health care that their children need. We all want to see this hospital opened without further delay. The project has been mismanaged from the start. It's already cited as the most expensive hospital in the world and its opening has been pushed back time and time again. Today, Taoiseach, the Irish Times reports on information obtained by my colleague, Deputy David Cullinan. What we have discovered is that there is a major problem with no less than 11 operating theatres in the hospital. These problems were known to the Board in May of 2022, that's 13 months ago, and the Board has admitted these facts today. Remarkably, it took them more than a year to respond to this situation. This despite further warnings in November of last year. I want Taoiseach to quote to you from the report of an independent expert, appointed by Children's Health Ireland, that the Board received this report in November of last year on these matters. Listen carefully, Taoiseach, because they set out the seriousness of what they call major generic faults. They say, these are not snagging lists, but rather indicative of major generic faults and non-compliances. The longer that these issues take to get resolved, the more expensive and time-consuming it will become. And then they went on to say this, if the present approach is not corrected, the systems will fail the final validation and will not be fit to be taken into use. Indeed, these independent experts express huge disappointment that no action had been taken since the major generic faults had been brought to the attention of the Board months and months earlier. So, as a result of the failure to act, I can only assume Taoiseach that these 11 theatres failed the quality checks in March of this year. But this is a matter that I would like you to clarify for us today. Indeed, despite all the warnings, a process to work out how to fix these major generic faults is only now being put in place more than a full year after they came to light. And the Minister has today acknowledged that the hospital will not now open in March 2024, as promised. So, children and families wait and wait. Taxpayers' money is spent in vast sums with a carelessness by a government that's asleep at the wheel. And this isn't the first time we've had such problems with this hospital. Massive cost overruns, massive delays, a lack of transparency have become synonymous with this project. And, of course, massive disappointment for children and their families. You said in the past that lessons would be learned. But it's clear, Taoiseach, that this is not the case. Lessons have not been learned. Indeed, I heard you quoted this morning saying that you're satisfied with the Board's response to the matters that I have set out. I said, I have to say to you, the independent experts don't share your view. The Board knew all about these serious problems as far back as May 2022, 13 months ago. Taoiseach, when did you find out? Thanks very much, Deputy. The new National Children's Hospital will transform health care for children on our island. Elements of it are already open. The Ambitry Care Centre in Blanchistown and in Talla, and people who've taken their kids there will know quite how good health care can be when we have modern facilities. And the main campus, the main building, has been under construction for quite some time, next to St. James' Hospital. We anticipate that it will be completed and handed over next year, and will be commissioned in the months after that. Contrary to reports in some headlines this morning, work on the new Children's Hospital has not stopped or paused. I'm advised that the National Pediatric Hospital Development Board, which is the state body charged with building at the new hospital, are undertaking a review relating to 11 of the 22 theatres. Theatres, as we all know, are critically important rooms, and that's why it's important for the Development Board to check and correct any potential deviations from plans. There can be no suggestion that any additional work on these 11 theatres, should it even be needed, could have any effect on the completion or opening of the hospital. Any works, if needed, can be done in parallel. This review is par for the course in construction, and no different to several reviews, to investigate more significant changes in design proposed by the main contractor across the project. The Board informs me that the review is not indicative of any wider design issues. The reality is that no works have been asked for, so it's unclear how they could possibly be costed or scheduled. The Development Board and the Employers' Representatives have been engaging with the contractor for months, seeking a programme outlining how it will successfully complete the final 20% of the hospital, and this has not been forthcoming. The Government believes this is an unhelpful distraction aimed at shifting the focus from the contractor and its responsibilities to others. Deputy, to answer your question, first informed of this this morning, but I'm not sure if what you're informing me of is even accurate. It is disputed by the Board. I would like to know from you, who are these independent experts that you have referred to? Have you checked that they are independent experts? And what is the source of these allegations that you have put on the record at all? Goor maigod. Goor maigod. Goor maigod. Well, Taoiseach, you might answer for me, please, whether or not these 11 theatres complied with or failed the validation test in March. That is an important question. I would like you to answer it. 11 theatres, not 11 rooms, not cloak rooms. They are operating theatres. 11 theatres, it is 50% of the theatre capacity of this state-of-the-art hospital. So, did they or did they not fail validation in March? Can you answer that question? I find it extraordinary that you only became aware of these matters today. These matters were known to the Board 12 months ago, more than 12 months ago. The independent experts are independent and expert. They were appointed by Children's Health Ireland. And they were very clear in May of 2022, and again in November, that there were serious generic faults. Not minor matters, not snagging list issues. Major faults. And yet the Board did not act. And yet this situation was allowed to drift. And here we find ourselves now with a very serious situation that will no doubt be costly and no doubt will extenuate the delay. So, Tisha, can you give me a more fulsome and a less ridiculous, frankly, answer to the questions that I have put to you? Deputy, I do not know if a validation exercise was carried out in March or not, but I do know that snagging and checking is par for the course in any construction project. It's not snagging. You haven't told me who your independent experts are. If you will give me the copy of the report, I would welcome that. You have to get this from me. Like I say, this is something that we have only heard about as a government today. So, if you have this independent expert support, I would be happy to receive a copy so that we can verify whether the claims you are making here in the Dáil are true or not. Deputy, there is no point in being fast-fired about these things. An operating theatre is a room in America they call them ORs, operating rooms and emergency rooms. So, that's to be a bit grown up by these type things. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .