Hospital overrun led the HSE to change capital plan

The HSE was forced to “very substantially” change its capital plan for this year, because of the national children’s hospital costs crisis, officials have confirmed. On February 5, the officials held a meeting on what projects to delay, cancel, or change.

Last month, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe insisted that despite the potential €1bn children’s hospital budget overrun, no services would be scrapped. That claim was widely questioned. Mr Donohoe said that while this year’s Government capital plan would be reduced by €99m — including €24m from “small capital projects and repairs” in hospitals — this involved “re-profiling” and not cuts.