Taoiseach: Government 'substantially underestimated' cost of National Children's Hospital

In total, claims submitted by Bam for the NCH have risen by €110m since January, with no final completion date submitted by the developer.

The cost of the National Children's Hospital (NCH) was “substantially underestimated” when construction first began, the Taoiseach has said, while the facility may now not open until 2025.

Leo Varadkar's comments follow claims by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) that the developer of the hospital, Bam, is “not providing sufficient resources to deliver the hospital”.

Mr Varadkar on Tuesday told the Dáil he expected the hospital to be open to patients either in late 2024 or early 2025. This is the first time the final completion date has slipped into 2025.

The Taoiseach had previously said he expected to see the first patients treated in the hospital “at some point in 2024”.

“We expect it to be completed and handed over next year. We'd expect it to be open to patients towards the end of next year or early 2025 at the latest,” Mr Varadkar told the Dáil.

Questioned by Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty on the significant hike in construction costs above the €600m allocated in 2016, Mr Varadkar admitted the cost had been “substantially underestimated” by the Government.

“I think it's clear that the cost of the hospital was substantially underestimated back in 2015, 2016 at around €600m,” Mr Varadkar said.

He said the budget for the hospital remained at €1.433bn, but admitted this was not enough to complete the project.

“It is clear however, that the budget would have to be increased and that €1.433bn will not be adequate,” Mr Varadkar said.

However, he disputed that the NCH would cost €2bn, saying it did not take into account the cost of an urgent care centre in Blanchardstown and Tallaght, as well as the decommissioning of Crumlin and Temple Street.

In total, claims submitted by Bam for the NCH have risen by €110m since January, with no final completion date submitted by the developer.

NPHDB chief office David Gunning is due to tell TDs and senators at the Oireachtas health committee that Bam has not updated the board on progress in recent months and is yet to produce a work schedule.

Export of bull calves

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar was also asked about an RTÉ investigation into the export of bull calves born in Ireland, which found “animal welfare issues at marts” as well as “breaches of regulations on the transport of animals in mainland Europe”.

Mr Varadkar was questioned by Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns, who blamed the issues on the expansion of the dairy sector in recent years, saying that the controversy could damage the reputation of Irish agriculture abroad.

Mr Varadkar agreed with Ms Cairns, saying the reputation of the beef and dairy sector could be put at risk.

“The reputation of the dairy and beef sector rests on complying with the high standards of animal welfare and the vast majority of farmers, processors and other workers have a strong commitment to ensuring that animals are not mistreated,” Mr Varadkar said.

However, Mr Varadkar said blaming the problem on the expansion of the dairy sector was “simplistic”.

“Sadly, there are people who will mistreat animals no matter how many animals there are,” Mr Varadkar said.