Results 1,381-1,400 of 1,098,773 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Martin Heydon OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Michael Moynihan OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Stephen Donnelly OR speaker:David Cullinane OR speaker:Mary Butler OR speaker:Malcolm Noonan OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Pauline Tully OR speaker:Matt Carthy OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Catherine Martin)

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

Stephen Donnelly: Lessons have most definitely been learned. Regarding the criteria for June, I will give my understanding of it. I fully accept BAM may agree or disagree with that. Where I believe we got to was that it was willing to stand over the June deadline with a proviso that there were not design changes that would reasonably delay the project. You might have very minor design changes. In fact,...

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

Stephen Donnelly: Yes. We would have to accept that. Where I believe we have got to is that there would be no substantive design changes. Obviously, I cannot speak for BAM. It may have a different view but certainly that is my clear understanding.

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

Stephen Donnelly: It has committed a totality between the commissioning and the project of €2.2 billion.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I will address the point on claims very quickly and then ask Mr. Tierney to give the Deputy the detail.

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

Stephen Donnelly: The totality of claims is €863 million. To date, there has been an agreed €31 million against that.

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

Stephen Donnelly: To the best of my knowledge, Ms Ross can correct me if I am wrong, there has been one major recommendation in BAM's favour.

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

Stephen Donnelly: The main one is €107 or €108 million. That is strongly contested by the board and that is going before the courts. The advice I have from the board is that it has a very strong case on that. If the Deputy would like Ms Ross to say more, she can.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I am really sorry to interrupt and we may be able to add a bit of time at the end but it is important to respond to that point if we could.

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

Stephen Donnelly: Can I respond very quickly?

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

Stephen Donnelly: Within the €2.2 billion, there is an amount allocated for these settlements.

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

Stephen Donnelly: It is commercially sensitive. I cannot say.

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

Stephen Donnelly: To be clear, it is not being stated that it would open in June 2025. That is when we are looking to take over the hospital completely, at which point much of the commissioning then happens.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I will give my view. If BAM meets its 14th deadline, if we take full charge of the hospital in June, as it is stating we will, if our commissioning teams get early access to this so-called hot block and if the commissioning work proceeds as it is being planned, then the timeline would suggest the end of 2025. There is then a clinical decision about whether it is appropriate to move in the...

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

Stephen Donnelly: We now have a date that Royal BAM says it is standing over and intensive engagement on exactly the baseline programme of work the Cathaoirleach is talking about, such that BAM, Royal BAM and the board, on our behalf, can say this is real and can be done. Let us hope they emerge with that. Even if and when they emerge with that, we will then have to manage that programme of works closely to...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I will ask Mr. Tierney to come in with some of the detail in a moment. I would like to make two quick points in response to what the Cathaoirleach said. First, for children who are waiting on spinal care, be that outpatient appointments, diagnosis, surgery or aftercare, that care and sorting out what we need to do for those children are not contingent on this hospital opening. We have...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I cannot speak for whether or not they were surprised. They did not hear anything that was not in public domain in terms of the Government's position but, obviously, as to whether they were surprised or not, only they can answer that.

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

Stephen Donnelly: Rather than trying to characterise their position, what I have no hesitation in saying is that BAM disputes a lot of what we have all discussed. It would be unfair of me to suggest that BAM simply said that it was sorry about all that and it will try harder. It is clear from the interactions the board has had with BAM over a long period that BAM has its view and it is a different view to...

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

Stephen Donnelly: The decision to contact Royal BAM was one I took subsequent to the meeting, first, with Ms Ross, and then, second, with the full board, on the back of BAM signalling that it was moving out to a June deadline.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I do not know if there was any such suggestion. There may well have been. Minutes were taken at the meeting. I do not recall it. I can say that there was a very high level of frustration when I met the board. Ms Ross is the chair of the board. We might ask her for the board's view, if that is okay.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I cannot say what BAM's motivation is but the facts, as I see them, are we have very clear evidence, I believe, from the board, based on gate receipts, noting day by day, how many people are on site. We have very clear evidence, which BAM may dispute, but the evidence as I have seen it is very strong that the hospital project has been consistently and substantively under resourced. That is...