Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane TD, has called on the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to grasp control of the spiralling new Children’s hospital project and prevent a repeat of the previous Minister’s hands-off approach.
The TD for Waterford said that the Minister should meet the development board, the contractor, and Children’s Health Ireland at the earliest opportunity to ensure that the earliest possible opening date can be achieved.
Teachta Cullinane said:
“The new Children’s Hospital is among the most important infrastructure projects in the State. The saga of delays and cost over-runs has been a frustrating display of incompetence and mismanagement.
“The new Minister for Health must grasp control of this project. Past ministers have taken a hands-off approach, and this has clearly failed to deliver value for the taxpayer or to deliver the hospital on time.
“The commissioning phase – when Children’s Health Ireland takes over the completed building – could take six months to a year, depending how well prepared the system is. A workforce and commissioning plan need to be in place now to make sure that the staff exist and are ready to set up and open the new hospital at the earliest possible date. Previous reports have flagged concerns that this is not happening fast enough, despite years of delays.
“When the development board was last in the health committee, it was clear that they had no trust or faith in the timely completion of the project. Completion dates have come and gone so many times before, and there was nothing in their testimony to give confidence that this latest date would be met. I hope it is and the Minister must make sure it is.
“Previous ministers have tried to pass the buck to the development board, and the board has a serious role, but there is also responsibility on the Minister to get the hospital finished.
“This will be a major priority of the new health committee. The committee and the Dáil will need to be assured that substantial progress has been made and continues to be made to open the hospital next year.”
