No way to reclaim €72m if children’s hospital project fails

The taxpayer has no way of clawing back almost €72m in money spent on the national children’s hospital if the project falls at the planning permission hurdle again.

A Dáil public accounts committee meeting heard there is no safety net to protect the taxpayer from the potential financial hit.

National paediatric hospital development board project director, John Pollock, said he firmly believes the new planned location for the facility at St James’s Hospital means the Mater problems will not be repeated.