Local TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said that the debacle of the building of the National Children’s Hospital is only becoming more and more out of hand and wondered how many more twists in the tale were to come. Teachta Crowe had put questions to the Minister for Health after observing that scaffolding has been dismantled on the site, asking whether the Minister shared his concerns on any further delays to the project.
Teachta Crowe said: “It was the 18th of May when sites could reopen, six weeks ago. Since then however, the site of the National Children’s Hospital has remained closed. There has been no agreement with the developer, BAM, on when the site will reopen. “This is the same developer that the development board of the new National Children’s Hospital initiated legal proceedings against in the Commercial Court in April.
“In response to a question I put to the Department of Health, they confirmed that works ceased on the 31st of March and have not recommenced. “The developers are alleging that the designs for the Children’s Hospital are not even finished yet. “This project was estimated to cost €1.7 billion before the lockdown started, but I have not been able to get a straight answer from the Department of Health as to how much these delays will add to that already monstrous cost to the taxpayer. “This whole debacle has only grown more and more out of hand. Clearly, the Government went into this project with no clear plans, designs or costings and, as a result, when this hospital will be built or how much it will eventually cost is completely unpredictable.”
