Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health David Cullinane TD has called on the Minister for Health to set out a definite completion date for the National Children’s Hospital.

The Waterford TD said that the saga of cost overruns, legal disputes, and delays is an example of how not to build a hospital. 

He said that a definite completion date was needed to give certainty to when additional capacity will come on stream for the over 90,000 children on health waiting lists and the healthcare professionals working tirelessly to address this backlog.

Teachta Cullinane said:

“The Minister must set out a definite completion date to give certainty to the thousands of children on hospital waiting lists.

“The saga of the €1.7 billion National Children’s Hospital continues to rumble on with more legal disputes and delays.

“This is a prime example of how not to build a hospital but these are sadly the hallmarks of this project.

“Meanwhile, more than 90,000 children are on some form of health waiting list.

“Hundreds of children are waiting years for urgent, life changing surgery for conditions such as spina bifida and scoliosis.

“Urgent interventions are needed now to deliver additional capacity in Cappagh and Temple Street hospitals. 

“The new National Children’s Hospital will enable specialists to deal with urgent care and deliver more care overall, and while it is the ultimate solution to these lists, here we are still waiting years later with more delays.

“Healthcare professionals and advocates know what benefits the new hospital will bring for our children – it is essential that it is opened as soon as possible to tackle the backlog in urgent care.”