Concern expressed in Waterford over ongoing children's hospital 'saga'

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health and TD for Waterford, Deputy David Cullinane, has said the confirmation on Wednesday, March 25, that "the 18th completion date" for the new Children’s Hospital will be missed at the end of next month was "exceptionally frustrating".

He made his remarks following the Oireachtas Health Committee meeting with the hospital development board and Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) on Wednesday morning.

Deputy Cullinane called for the Minister for Health to hold the Development Board, Children’s Health Ireland and the hospital developer accountable for week-to-week progress until the hospital is built, handed over and open for treating sick children.

“It is absolutely ridiculous and exceptionally frustrating, but not at all surprising, that the new Children’s hospital will miss yet another deadline," he said.

"This is a hospital which we desperately want and need to see open and treating sick children. It is heartbreaking to see yet another delay, which will have real consequences for children who are languishing on waiting lists," he added.

Deputy Cullinane said: “The taxpayer is once again being told ‘next year, next year,’ and it is no wonder that faith in this project is on the floor. I have no faith in any completion date. Even when the hospital is completed and handed over, it will take at least seven months to fully commission. It will be close to another year, if not longer, before this hospital is open and treating children."

Calling for a week-by-week account of what is happening to finish the hospital, Deputy Cullinane said the Minister for Health should bring all of her influence to bear on the project to get it over the line.

"There must be clear and transparent milestones for room completions and the number of teams working in parallel on site," he said.

"This must take account of outstanding work, the resources needed to complete it, and week-to-week progress against this," he added.

“Targets are constantly being missed, only half of the rooms in the hospital have been handed over and validated, and the most important parts of the hospital – including theatres – are still not finished," he said.

"Serious concerns about the finished quality of some rooms and floors have been raised, including issue with ventilation, noise and substandard completion which have been ongoing concerns for several years," he added.

Deputy Cullinane expressed criticism of Minister Simon Harris' role in the project and commented: "It is very clear from the testimony of the development board that the contract is weak and that they do not have the necessary powers to speed up delivery of the project. The taxpayer is at the mercy of the contractor because of Simon Harris’ contract which has been a disaster from start to finish."

"In the middle of it all are a high number of claims for an outrageous sum of money, there are hundreds of millions worth of disputed claims which may still fall back on the taxpayer," he said.

Deputy Cullinane said the Minister for Health must take responsibility for bringing an end to "the farce of the new Children’s Hospital saga" and that the Government must ensure that no similar type contract is ever signed off on again.