The final cost of delivering the new National Children\u2019s Hospital is likely to exceed the \u20ac2.24 billion projected by the Government and may not be known for years, according to Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy.<\/p>\n
Deputy Murphy, who is vice-chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cConfirmation from the Minister for Health today that the cost of building the hospital has shot up by more than \u20ac500m will come as little surprise. It has been clear for some time that the final figure was likely to come in over the \u20ac2 billion mark, which is a considerable distance from the revised \u20ac1.4 billion estimated cost of the project back in 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe development has been beset with disputes between BAM and the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), with thousands of claims amounting to hundreds of millions lodged. Any claims not settled through the agreed resolution process between the contractor and the NPHDB could end up in the High Court, meaning it could be many more years before the final cost of the children\u2019s hospital is known.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Taoiseach suggested today that there would be years of disputes with the developer over payments that could result in costs being spread out over 10 to 15 years. This makes it even more likely that the \u20ac2.24 billion figure announced by the Government may turn out to be a conservative estimate of the final bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also concerning that the opening date of the children\u2019s hospital appears to be a moving target. Despite the Minister for Health\u2019s stated ambition that the facility will start treating its first patients in April or May of 2025, he added a caveat that this would be subject to the developer delivering on its commitment. Given the number of times the timeline for the completion of the hospital has slipped, this is hardly a ringing endorsement by the Minister and certainly does not inspire confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 13, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The final cost of delivering the new National Children\u2019s Hospital is likely to exceed the \u20ac2.24 billion projected by the Government and may not be known for years, according to Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy. Deputy Murphy, who is vice-chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: \u201cConfirmation from the Minister for Health today that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,11,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catherine-murphy","category-health","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n