Children's Hospital board ‘satisfied’ at its role

By Catherine Shanahan and Elaine Loughlin

An assessment of its own performance by the board of the new children’s hospital found “a high percentage of board satisfaction”, according to minutes of its August meeting.

The self-evaluation was undertaken between March 14 and May 22 this year, not long after the resignation in February of board chair Tom Costello.

It got under way just days before the resignation of John Pollock, project director of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB).

The resignations came in the wake of revelations that the cost of building a new children’s hospital had risen by €500m in the course of a year, with the final price tag heading towards €2bn.

The minutes say an external board evaluation required under its Corporate Governance code will not take place until the first or second quarter of 2020, “to allow new board members familiarise themselves with the requirements of the board”.

The minutes of the August meeting note that: “Following discussion, it was agreed that the board was satisfied overall with its expertise, procedures and performance and that improvement actions continued to be progressed with the chair” [Fred Barry, who replaced Tom Costello].

The minutes also reference a transfer agreement under which equipment is transferred to Children’s Health Ireland who will be responsible for services at the new hospital. The minutes make reference to “additional equipment to an amount of approximately €6,000”.

The minutes also note the resignation from the board of the State’s chief procurement officer, Paul Quinn, who controversially did not flag the escalating costs of the new children’s hospital with Government.

And they highlight the fact that the board was still awaiting a final figure for the project from developers Bam.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has signalled a further escalation in the cost of building the Children’s Hospital in a letter to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.

In a letter seen by the Irish Examiner, Mr Varadkar has admitted that the contractors have submitted more claims relating to extra spending.

Leo Varadkar.

“The individual details of these claims are commercially sensitive interactions between the contractor and the NPHDB and cannot be discussed or released at this time,” Mr Varadkar wrote.

Mr Varadkar also told the opposition leader that no further increases have yet been agreed by Government and said “an extra claim does not necessarily result in that claim being paid”.

In his letter Mr Varadkar said €1,443m is the capital build cost of the project. However, he said there will also be additional investment from other sources associated with the broader programme.

Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly hit out at the Government who he said are purposely splitting up the costs of the hospital.