Results 481-500 of 1,068,631 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Stephen Donnelly OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Thomas Gould)

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: When does the board expect to reach an agreement on the level of staffing required?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: This is all taking up a huge amount of time. When does the Department expect to be in a position to have agreed the number of staff and the compliance programme? When are we going to see progress and a breakthrough?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Are we just at the point of hoping at this stage?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: It would be great to get something more positive and concrete out of that meeting. When does the Department expect to be able to announce progress?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Everything is very vague, and Ms Ross is saying it could take weeks or even months. When will we find out when this project is going to get back on track? When will we have a completion date we can believe and a final cost for the project?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Sorry, but it is not on the contractor. It is on the development board and the Government. This is a major public contract that is costing a vast amount of money. The public wants to know when will it be completed and what the final cost will be. Despite all the spin that has been going on in the media in recent weeks, we are still no nearer to having those two vital pieces of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: We are getting them. The final cost, as referenced by Deputy Cullinane, is the amount that the Government stated, namely €2.2 billion. I was very clear with Royal BAM that the Government is not putting more money on the table. The public has the answer to one of those two questions. In answer to the second question, it is not reasonable to ask the board as to what day it will be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: If BAM needs to double the number of staff on site in order to meet the June 2025 completion date, it is very difficult to understand how this will not have cost implications. Was that issue raised with Royal BAM? Was a commitment obtained from Royal BAM that it will substantially increase the number of staff on site from now on and that it will stick with the original cost?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It is not a question of whether it is sticking with the original cost. I made it very clear that the Government has allocated funding and that that is the end of it. Regarding the number of staff, we would categorically refute a position to the effect that we should pay the company more if it fully resources the site. We expect the site to be fully resourced. There will not be additional...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: What was the commitment, if any, obtained from Royal BAM? Was it to fully staff the site and bring the project in on budget?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The commitment is for the company to meet its June 2025 deadline and to engage intensively with the board on everything required to do that, which obviously includes the level of resourcing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I will come back in on the second round.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: For the benefit of the public, it must be stated that if one is involved in public life or in dealing with contracts for a long time, it can be easy to form the view that the State is always the malign player if things go wrong with a contract. I am not suggesting that there are malign players in this instance, but I have been dealing with school building and road projects in my constituency...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It is a good example of the frustration involved. I included details of it in my letter to the Taoiseach. During what might have been my most recent appearance before the committee to discuss this matter, Deputy Doherty raised the issue. As I have stated previously, I believed he was acting in good faith. I do not believe he was trying to help the contractor out. At the time, I pointed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: How long did it take to complete?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It was completed in a matter of weeks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: If I am to interpret this correctly, a change was required, BAM costed this change and this cost is on record?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: The cost ran to €25 million, or millions of euro anyway, and was going to delay the contract by months, which was the evidence given to us. To conclude matters in respect of that piece of the jigsaw, what did it cost?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (9 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It cost less that 1% of the amount originally stated. It cost less than €200,000 and it took a few weeks to complete. It is worth saying that, mistakenly or not, BAM still issued an invoice to the State for the full €25 million. Perhaps this was an administrative error on the part of the company.