Howlin seeks answers as cost of new children’s hospital reaches €1.73 bn D

ETAIL of the projects that will not be advanced this year to meet the requirements of reducing other projects to the tune of €100 million because of the overrun in the cost of the new children’s hospital were sought in the Dáil by the Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin.

‘On the Cabinet decision to approve the children’s hospital, what specific sum was approved by the Cabinet and did that decision involve an absolute commitment that it was the final figure and that there would be no overruns beyond that?’ he asked.

In reply, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the re-profiling of the €100m has not been done yet but he believed it will be achieved by deferrals of weeks or months and will not require the outright cancellation of any projects.

‘Savings may arise for reasons outside our control, such as other projects being deferred, not as a result of any Government decision but because of planning issues, judicial reviews and so on,’ he said. ‘I appreciate that it is causing anxiety and that many people feel the projects they are interested in are being delayed as a consequence of overruns relating to the national children’s hospital. That is not the case and we will try to clarify that as soon as possible.’

‘When people use the figure of €1.73 billion, they are including expenditure that would have arisen even if the new hospital had never been built,’ he added. ‘They are including VAT and costs at the Mater incurred by a previous Government in respect of a hospital that was never built.’