Simon Harris says National Children’s Hospital debacle is not his fault

Taoiseach Simon Harris criticised 'political opponents' for the 'blurring of the timeline for political purposes' regarding the development of the national children's hospital. Picture: BAM

The Taoiseach has rejected the idea that he bears responsibility for the National Children’s Hospital debacle, saying “timelines are being blurred” by political opponents.

As minister for health, Simon Harris signed off on the construction of the hospital, but has now moved to distance himself from the project, which has seen costs balloon to more than €2.2bn and the completion deadline extended to 2026.

In recent days contractor Bam and the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has become engaged in a war of words over the cost and opening date.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner in New York, Mr Harris said the NPHDB was established in 2013 and the design was finalised in 2016 before he entered the Department of Health.

However, he was minister for health in April 2017 when he received Government approval for the investment required to award construction contracts for the hospital. At that time the cost of the development stood at €1bn.

“There is this idea that the Children’s Hospital started on the date Simon Harris became minister for health — not true,” he said. 

This has been talked about since I was a child, where we put it, where we build it, and certainly there’s many people in the Dáil who commentate on this, that if we had to follow their advice, the hospital still wouldn’t be built.

“Remember, I was the minister for health and commissioned in 2019 the independent report in terms of how we contain costs in relation to this project that had run on for many years. 

And that report looked at — Do you stop? Do you do something different? — And it had found that that would cost more [to stop].”

Mr Harris said that the NPHDB “has a responsibility to get this hospital delivered” and was doing a job, but said that builder Bam also has “a responsibility here to live up to their obligations”.

“They are a major construction company, and we need this thing delivered, and we need it open, and it’s going to be absolutely transformational.

"Yes, it’s expensive, yes, it’s costing more than was expected, but it is an investment in children’s health. 

"And I guarantee when this hospital is open, there’ll be a rush of politicians wanting to attend the opening. And I guarantee you when journalists start talking to parents in that hospital, they’ll see the transformational difference.”

Asked what he would do differently, Mr Harris said there “are lots of things that should be done differently”, but criticised “political opponents” for their “blurring of the timeline for political purposes”.