Projects face cut due to €1.4bn hospital
New hospital services and projects could be cancelled or significantly delayed as a direct result of the runaway €1.4bn cost of the national children’s hospital.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar admitted the situation before the Cabinet prepares to sign off on the HSE’s budget plan for next year, confirming that the cost of the hospital has ballooned “way beyond what we had ever anticipated”.
At the weekend, it emerged that the new national children’s hospital will cost up to €1.4bn due to a series of overruns in its budgets, construction issues, and project delays.
The figure dwarfs the original €404m expected price of the project in 2012, the €485m cost when the St James’s Hospital site was announced, the €650m price when planned permission was given in 2016, and the expected €1bn figure at the start of this year.
Health Minister Simon Harris promised last year that the project will be delivered “on budget and on time”, by the end of 2021.
It has been dogged by repeated scandals about its location, size, and price over the past decade.
Amid the mounting cost concerns and a subsequent opening delay until 2022, Department of Health secretary general Jim Breslin held talks in recent days with the group overseeing the site’s development. He warned that the bill must be tackled.
At the launch of a stroke unit at James Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, Mr Varadkar said he is concerned about the budget involved.
While saying that the original price was always likely to rise because of construction work inflation and other matters, he said the “latest increase” means other services and projects will have to be scrapped or delayed.
“I’m very concerned at the rising costs on the main campus [of the planned new children’s hospital],” he said. “We always expected that the price would rise as a result of construction inflation, but the latest increase is way beyond what we had ever anticipated.
“The reality is that, because of that, because of the additional money we may need to find to cover that, other projects will, as consequences, be delayed, and that’s a real shame. The consequence of running over-budget with a project means other projects get delayed, and that is not a good position to be in.”
The Children’s Rights Alliance declined to comment until the full details of what is causing the rising hospital costs is fully explained.
Sinn Féin health spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly said the runaway costs are a direct result of the Government’s failure to keep close control of the project.
“The Government is responsible for the overrun in costs in the same way as they are for the overspend in the HSE,” she said.
“Threatening services due to Government inability to plan or effectively cost this necessary project is simply not acceptable. It is worth noting that ministers all turn up for the photo opportunities when plans are announced but are less inclined to manage projects effectively once the cameras are gone.”
The new children’s hospital concerns came as Mr Harris prepares to bring the HSE service plan to Cabinet today. It outlines the HSE’s budget breakdown for 2019, and is likely to be open to changes due to the national children’s hospital situation.
The service plan is also at risk of being impacted by the decision of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) to vote overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action and potential strike action last night.
PNA general secretary Peter Hughes said there has been a “continued failure of the Government to bring forward realistic proposals to address the recruitment and retention crisis in nursing”.
He said 95% of PNA members voted in favour of industrial action up to and including strike action, and highlighted the “inadequate” public pay commission report this year as a key reason for the decision.
