Watt takes 'ultimate responsibility' for keeping National Children's Hospital progress secret

In February of this year, Robert Watt told the committee - in response to it asking who had been responsible for the decision not to provide it with the report – that “there was not a single decision point as to whether or not this analysis could or should be furnished to the committee”. File photo: Gareth Chaney/ Collins

The secretary-general of the Department of Health has told the Public Accounts Committee he accepts “ultimate responsibility” for a decision to keep secret the ongoing progress of the National Children’s Hospital build.

Robert Watt said that as its accounting officer, the overall responsibility for a decision to withhold a report on the hospital construction’s progress must lie with him. The build has run massively over budget and is years behind schedule.