Time should be set aside in the D\u00e1il next week so the Minister for Health can provide an urgent update on the latest delay to the National Children\u2019s Hospital, according to Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice.<\/p>\n
Deputy Rice, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on health, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project is not just one the most significant capital investments in the history of the State \u2013 it is also the most shambolic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt today\u2019s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting, the chief executive of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) confirmed that the latest deadline for the completion of the hospital has been missed. This is the 15th<\/sup>\u00a0time since 2020 that the project has missed its final deadline.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that the June deadline will not be met, the Minister must outline to the D\u00e1il if she has confidence the new completion target of September will be achieved. Given previous slippage by contractors BAM, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see a situation where the new hospital will be in a position to start treating young patients in 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the St James\u2019s site was chosen, the estimated completion date for this hospital was 2020. However, five years on, costs have spiralled to at least \u20ac2.24 billion and deadlines have become little more than moving targets.<\/p>\n \u201cThe National Children\u2019s Hospital must be one of the most botched projects ever undertaken in this country. Despite this, we have yet to see any political accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n May 22, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Time should be set aside in the D\u00e1il next week so the Minister for Health can provide an urgent update on the latest delay to the National Children\u2019s Hospital, according to Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice. Deputy Rice, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on health, said: \u201cThis project is not just one the most significant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,649,642,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-national-childrens-hospital","category-padraig-rice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n