‘Hit-list’ of projects affected by hospital overrun

SPENDING on roads, hospital repairs and flood defences will be affected in order to pay for almost €100m in extra costs associated with the new National Children’s Hospital (NCH) this year.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe outlined some of the areas hit, emphasising how the NCH is a “vital and much-needed project”.

The ‘hit-list’ includes:

:: Delaying €27m in funding for the A5 Dublin to Derry cross-Border motorway project. This is the largest sum, though Taoiseach Leo Varadkar claimed in the Dáil that it’s not a deferral as there’s currently no Northern Ireland Executive in place and funding for the road is not due to be provided until there is;

:: Re-scheduling €24m worth of spending on other health facilities. No specifics have been provided, but Health Minister Simon Harris’s spokesperson said it will be restricted to some smaller capital works such as repairs and replacements over a longer period of time. She added that “we are not talking about delaying or deferring any hospital project”; :: The re-scheduling of €10m in spending on the National Forensic Science Laboratory;

:: The advance payment by the Department of Education of €10m in relation to higher education facilities at the NCH; :: Re-scheduling the drawdown of €16m from two regeneration funds in the Project Ireland 2040 plan; :: The “re-profiling” of €4m in payments in certain investment programmes by the Department of Communications;

:: €3m to come from the Flood Risk Management Programme of the Office of Public Works;

:: €3m is to come from the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure;

:: There are to be changes to the timing of €2m in payments relating to certain capital works by the Department of Culture. Full delivery of the projects is said to be scheduled across 2019 and 2020.

Repairs to hospitals, roads, and flood works will be affected