Results 81-100 of 1,069,985 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:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Paul Murphy) in 'Committee meetings'

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There are suggestions that, because there is a delay, things in the hospital are obsolete, not fit for purpose or out of date.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.

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

John Lahart: Who attended the meeting?

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

Stephen Donnelly: Which meeting?

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

John Lahart: With Royal BAM.

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

Stephen Donnelly: On the BAM side, there was the global chief executive, its UK and Ireland chief executive or general manager, whatever the title is, and its chief operating officer. On our side, it was Ms Ross, me, Robert Watt, my Secretary General, Derek Tierney, who is the assistant secretary over this, Bernard Gloster, chief executive of the HSE, and my special adviser, Susan Mitchell.

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

John Lahart: I have one final question for Ms Ross. This is the first time I have encountered her. I wish her the best of luck in her role. What are her takes from that meeting with Royal BAM?

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

John Lahart: What has given Ms Ross the grounds for that? Was it the meeting, its tone, or the engagement? What justifies it when talking to a taxpayer?

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

John Lahart: What is the significance of the early access for commissioning? That is maybe lost on me as a layman.

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

Stephen Donnelly: It was my first meeting with the chief executive of Royal BAM.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I do not want to characterise Royal BAM. It is for its representatives to say how they felt at the meeting. I can say that it was a very open conversation. The frustrations on both sides were aired. We need to wait and see but there is the possibility that it will have been a productive meeting. Given that deadlines have come and gone, we would all be naive to walk away and think that it...

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

Stephen Donnelly: Regarding the costs, I made the point on behalf of the Irish people that the Irish Government agreed to an amount earlier this year and that is the amount on the table, which we do not intend to add to. It has been made clear that the budget has been set. It is in everybody's interests, including obviously the children of Ireland but also the contractor, for the contractor to accelerate its...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I would prefer not to try to characterise BAM because it would be fully entitled to come back and say that is a matter for the company. I apologise for repeating myself. The full gamut of issues was discussed in a frank and open way.

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

Stephen Donnelly: For me, the purpose of the meeting was because I did not have confidence in the June date and the board, acting on all our behalf, certainly did not have confidence in the June date. That was the genesis of the meeting. From my perspective, one of the core points of the meeting was to say this is BAM's fourteenth deadline, that we cannot possibly have confidence, and the board most...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I will reserve judgment on that until Ms Ross, Mr. David Gunning and the team-----

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

Stephen Donnelly: Because we need to see the change. It is all well and good for me and the global chief executive to meet and commit to an improved approach to this, but I want to see the change. Ms Ross and I will be staying in regular contact. I want to see the change. I want to see a programme of work in which David Gunning, Fiona Ross and all the board, acting on our behalf, will be able to say that...

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

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, that is exactly it. It has been a very open point of dispute between the board and the contractor on an ongoing basis.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I think three things are relevant to children being treated in this hospital. First, there was commitment to the commissioning teams going in early. That is something that had not been agreed and can accelerate the opening of this hospital, potentially by several months. That is important. I acknowledge that BAM has said it will facilitate this and make it happen. That had not been...