Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 24 Sep 2024

The debacle surrounding the construction of the National Children's Hospital continues at the weekend we learned that the hospital's completion date will be missed yet again we're now looking at a completion date of 2026 and we can't even be sure of that a report from KPMG reported this morning calls into question if the hospital will be ready to open even when it is built there are fears about gaps in staffing and senior leadership teams and a lack of clarity regarding the future operating model and resourcing of the hospital on the watch of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail the biggest investment in health infrastructure in the history of the state has descended into complete farce never-ending delay and ever-growing massive overspend and zero accountability nobody in government can save for certain when the hospital will open its doors or what the final bill for the taxpayer will be this fiasco is rooted in government incompetence it was Taoiseach Simon Harris who gave the go-ahead for the contract with BAM in 2017 then in 2019 despite the big concerns and problems that had already emerged of approval by signing of approval by signing of approval by signing the contract for phase two of construction this is the source of all of the problems that have beset the building of the hospital weak contracts that don't protect the public purse don't hold the developer to delivery dates and don't allow for effective oversight of the project who signs a contract for anything let alone a hospital without any idea of what the final cost will be or when the job will be finished the answer to that question is Simon Harris yesterday the Taoiseach said that government won't be a pushover on the children's hospital of course that's just another soundbite the horse has truly bolted on that score let's go through it the completion date has been delayed 17 times the spending on the hospital has ballooned by 1.5 billion euros according to the board overseeing the project not one of the hospitals 5,000 rooms have been completed to standard set out in the contract and most importantly the hospital still isn't open not a single child has been treated despite the billions of public money spent that's not a government being pushed over that's a government being rolled over repeatedly I say Simon Harris it's a small business minister everybody in did all wants the hospital finished and we want its doors open for children the scandal of children with scoliosis and spina bifida waiting years in agony for their operations remains front and centre the hospital should be open for them and for for so many other children in need of care and treatment. Of course, BAM must step up to the plate and fulfil all contractual obligations. But be clear, it is the job of government to protect the public interest. When it comes to the delays and the ballooning costs, the book stops with you, with government. So Minister, can you tell us what are you doing now to ensure that government does not continue to be a pushover? What are you doing now to stop the massive cost overruns? What are you doing now to ensure that this hospital gets built and opens? Thank you Deputy McDonnell for raising this issue. Week after week here in the Dáil Chamber, you and other deputies and indeed government deputies raised the ongoing concerns that we have regarding the need to meet the healthcare needs of sick young girls and boys and the improvement that we have to make in how healthcare is provided to our youngest. That is why the National Children's Hospital is so important and that is why its completion, the provision of surgery facilities, the provision of additional care facilities, the provision of bedrooms is fundamental to how we can, in a far better way, rise to the health needs of our youngest. That is why this hospital is needed and that is why when it is open it will make a massive difference to our ability to meet the healthcare needs of our youngest, particularly those with the most difficult and sensitive healthcare needs. The message from government regarding where this project stands at the moment is very clear. We want it open as soon as possible. We want the rooms completed. We want the surgery facilities completed. We want to see a building that is currently a structure turn into a hospital, providing state-of-the-art care to those who need it the most. The progress on this hospital at the moment has been delayed, as you have said. If you look at the recent track record of delays in relation to us, due to decisions that were made by the contractor, over the last four years the project has been delayed 14 times. In the last 12 months alone it has now been delayed by four times. If you ask what is the government doing in relation to this? What steps are the government taking in order to ensure that this hospital is complete, that it is meeting the healthcare needs of our children? The board of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, the board who were responsible for the oversight of that hospital, are acting on behalf of government in relation to it. They, on our behalf, are taking the steps that are needed to ensure the contractor is held to account and to get that hospital open as soon as possible. It is the board of the hospital who are challenging the contractor in relation to cost. It is the board of the hospital who are challenging the contractor and taking the right action to challenge the delays and to ensure that the right amount of resource is present on site in order to ensure that that hospital is open. The delays that are taking place at the moment are unacceptable. The government wants to see that hospital open. The board is acting on our behalf to take the steps that are needed to see it open, to turn it from a building, to ensure that it becomes a hospital, giving care to those who need it the most. In relation to the charges that you have made, Deputy MacDonald, in relation to the Taoiseach, in relation to the government, on one hand you say you want us to better meet the healthcare needs of the young. On the other hand, you are always against anything in relation to this hospital. On one hand, when you are saying you have great concerns about the cost and the way the cost has gone up, but when the government takes any steps to deal with those costs, you are critical of that as well. On one hand, you say you want to see the hospital open as soon as possible, but when we take the steps that are needed to lead to that hospital getting open, you stand up here on the floor of the Dáil and you criticise that as well. It is the same old Sinn Féin. We see it again in what you are saying here today. When you are against everything, Deputy MacDonald, you are for nothing. We see, yet again, not just a grossly incompetent government, but the one that is entirely unprepared to take responsibility, much less to be accountable for anything. So it is the Board's fault, it is the contractor's fault. Of course it is Sinn Féin's fault, how could it not be? Let me just recite this again. On 17 occasions the completion date has fallen through. 1.5 billion euros of an overspend. According to the Chairman, the CEO of the Board Minister, he says that there is not one single room completed to the required standard in this project. Not one. That is his account of things. Most importantly, the hospital not open and not one child treated. I asked you a direct question. I asked you what are you doing? What is the Government doing as the custodian of the public purse, as the people accountable ultimately to have access to this healthcare for our children? What are you doing? The Government is in fact doing nothing. Having signed weak contracts with very weak leavers available to the Board, the Government has sat back and allowed this farce and this fiasco to deepen. It does not matter what answer I give to the House, it does not matter how I look to answer Deputy MacDonald here today, your response is always going to be the same. To find any answer insufficient, to find any evidence of progress or an attempt to deal with the issue not good enough. I outlined in my answer back to you the fact that we do not accept as sufficient or satisfactory where that project stands at the moment. That we too want to see that hospital open as soon as possible. I have acknowledged at other points, and I will do so again today, all of the difficulties and learnings that we have had in relation to the cost of that hospital, which have been acknowledged and taken on board in relation to how we cost other projects. But you asked me what the Government was doing in relation to it and I explained to you what the Government is doing. I pointed out to you that the Government, through the Development Board that has responsibility for that hospital, is taking the action that is needed in relation to the timeliness of delivery of us, in relation to the challenge of claims and in relation to the work that we are doing, what we are demanding of the developer to have that work done. I would put it to you, Deputy MacDonald, that you would be better off making the case for this project being completed than continually coming out here and doing the work of the contractor on behalf of them in terms of supporting the children of Ireland and getting this hospital completed. Thank you.