Results 41-60 of 1,068,345 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (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:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Martin Kenny) in 'Committee meetings'

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

Stephen Donnelly: It said it would review its current proposal with the board, so it can stand over it.

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)

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)

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)

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.

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

John Lahart: In the public interest, will the Minister give us two or three takes from that meeting with Royal BAM? What was the significance of its involvement as opposed to that of its Irish subsidiary?

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

Stephen Donnelly: The reason I wrote directly to the CEO of Royal BAM was that I simply could not have confidence in the June 2025 deadline for completion. When I met the board, the members were very clear that they could not have confidence in it either. The programme of works the company had submitted to meet that was either deemed non-compliant or as yet had not been deemed to be compliant. As I said to...

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

John Lahart: Will the Minister explain this for members of the public who are watching? I am sure most of them get what is involved. What does the commissioning of the building mean?

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

Stephen Donnelly: Commissioning the building is essentially everything required from when we take over an empty, finished building to children walking into that building with their parents to be treated and walking out again. It is a huge operation. We are bringing several children's hospitals into one. There are new operating theatres, new rooms, new ways of working and new nurses' stations. It will be our...

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

John Lahart: There is fitting out, trial and error testing and all of that.

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

Stephen Donnelly: It so happens that there are things that can be accelerated. Some things cannot be accelerated but other things can be, including the laboratories and other complex back office systems. If the contractor can give us or CHI access to that early, which it has agreed to do, we believe that the commissioning can be accelerated and de-risked to some degree.

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

John Lahart: There are suggestions that, because there is a delay, things in the hospital are obsolete, not fit for purpose or out of date. Will the Minister comment on that?

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

Stephen Donnelly: I will ask Ms Ross to answer that.