Harris had two chances to get a grip on hospital cost fiasco
FG blames HSE – even though minister missed opportunities to curb spend
HEALTH Minister Simon Harris was told about overruns in the cost of the National Children’s Hospital on two separate occasions, but failed to get to grips with the fiasco.
It emerged yesterday that Mr Harris was warned about the spiralling costs twice, including an escalation of €200m last August.
The hospital was signed off by the Government in April 2017 for €983m but the cost of construction escalated to €1.4bn last November.
Mr Harris and his officials came under strong attack again yesterday at the Oireachtas Health Committee for their oversight of price negotiations between the paediatric development board and the builders BAM.
However, at a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting last night, TDs and senators rounded on the HSE over the massive overrun – and not Mr Harris.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said he took responsibility for the fiasco. The move was perceived as Mr Donohoe rushing to the defence of his Cabinet colleague after it was suggested he threw the Health Minister under a bus over the spiralling cost of the hospital. Mr Donohoe suggested he would bring forward proposals to avoid further cost overruns in future State projects.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government should take responsibility for the hospital costs crisis.
There were calls for the leadership to listen to public concerns over the nurses strike and hospital costs as local and European elections loom.
The Health Committee heard yesterday that Mr Harris was told about overruns in the cost of the National Children’s Hospital on two separate occasions, including an escalation of €200m in August last year.
However, he admitted that he did not negotiate specifically for the potentially higher cost of the hospital ahead of last October’s Budget.
The cost of construction has now spiralled to €1.4bn.
The higher bill means that €100m will have to be found from the capital budget in health and other departments, delaying other projects.
Mr Harris told the committee he was briefed on costings and progress in September 2017 when the hospital, to be built on the site of St James’s Hospital, was heading for a €61m overspend.
It was nearly a full year before he got another update
in August 2018, when the was €200m over budget.
The paediatric development board had asked for extra time in June because the negotiations with BAM were proving to be particularly tough.
Mr Harris said he was not told of the final cost until November 9 last year, the same day as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who was visiting the Department of Health that day.
He was quizzed by Fianna Fáil TD Stephen Donnelly on whether he made the expected higher bill for the hospital part of his pre-Budget negotiations.
Mr Harris said there was a general awareness in Government that the cost was going to be higher.
“I was actively seeking additional capital for the Health Department during budgetary negotiations,” he said.
Mr Donnelly said: “Minister Harris became aware of the overspend in August 2018, yet he did not think to raise it with the Minister for Finance, nor
cost the Taoiseach, until November.
“This is despite budget negotiations taking place in September and the passing of the budget in October.
“It is very hard to fathom that he would not have warned them of the project overrun, which would have significantly impacted the Budget.”
Mr Harris said, however, that something may have gone “seriously wrong” in arriving at the bill, and it would be up to the PwC inquiry report to provide independent findings.
Further evidence emerged at the committee how the financial risks were flagged to departmental and HSE officials who were part of various oversight committees.
Department of Health secretary general Jim Breslin, the ultimate accounting officer for the project, told the committee he was told of “capital cost challenges” in June last year after getting an update from project director John Pollock.
The board looked for a threemonth extension to conclude the tough negotiations. In September, after a €200m overrun was notified, the “emphasis was to get the process to the end”.
He said he sought a meeting with officials at the Department of Expenditure about the hospital in October, but this did not happen until November.
The Government’s chief procurement officer was a member of the financial committee, which was part of the paediatric development board.
Questioned at the committee, the deputy director general of the HSE, Dean Sullivan, described the signals that there were pressures on the potential cost of the hospital as “noise in the system”.
The paediatric board commissioned several independent reviews, which told them they were largely on track with the pricing.
Meanwhile, Professor Chris Fitzpatrick, the former master of the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, has written to the Dáil’s spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, requesting an opportunity to appear before it to raise his concerns about the hospital.