Responding to the Minister for Health’s statement on the delays in the National Children’s Hospital made on RTE’s Primetime Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín stated:
“It is outstanding that the Minister for Health cannot say when it will open. She has said that the ventilation system is not at a clinical standard. She has said that the number of staff on site are not enough. The Minister admits that there is nothing that she can do to force BAM to resource the project.
All of this is shocking. Where are the contractual controls? Where are the contractual penalties to ensure that work is done? The Minister mentions that there is a number of different levers in the High Court that can be litigated at a late stage. Why are they not being used in real time when it matters. The fact that these levers cannot be used not is a damning indictment of Simon Harris and the shockingly poor contact that he signed off on.
The Minister stated that there is a time line for completion but would not openly declare what that is. She states that there is no date that she can stand over. She stated that the opening of the hospital is a movable feast. Incredibly, she was asked would the hospital be open during her time as Minister for Health. Even on this longer time scale she admitted that she could not guarantee this”.
People are aghast at the delays and the spiralling costs. Tellingly the Minister stated that she was too busy to look to the past. But it is imperative that we learn from this financial omnishambles. There must be a public investigation into the inherent weaknesses of this contract and whey the Tánaiste signed it.
