HSE €17m projects overrun a 'sorry story of waste' of taxpayers' money

An extension for a Cork community nursing unit was initially costed at €20.86m but an increase of almost 25% brought it to a total of €26.05m

Mairéad Farrell said the waste of public money has gone 'on a roadshow around the country'. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

A HSE projects overrun of €17m is the latest chapter in the Government's "sorry story of waste" of taxpayers' money, the Dáil has heard.

Some six HSE construction projects went over budget by a combined total of over €17m, it was revealed.

Sinn Féin's nominee to replace Brian Stanley as the chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Mairéad Farrell, said that the waste of public money has gone "on a roadshow around the country".

Ms Farrell referred to a story in the Irish Medical Times which stated that in the period between January 2020 and December 2023, the HSE signed off on a total of 23 construction contracts, all of which were valued at over €10m.

According to a briefing document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, six of these exceeded the contract award amount.

An extension for a community nursing unit in Cork which was initially costed at €20.86m recorded an increased cost of almost 25%, bringing it to a final total of €26.05m.

Also located in Cork was a 30-bed ward block at the Mercy University Hospital that had been costed at €19.8m but had a final cost of €22.53m.

The other projects include a 12-bed critical care unit at Tallaght University Hospital with an overrun of €2.23m, a 50-bed residential care centre in Tuam at €2.38m over its costed price, and a 72-bed ward block at St Luke's hospital in Kilkenny with an overrun of €480,000.

Meanwhile, a radiation oncology unit at University Hospital Galway saw costs increase by €4.16m on the initial value of €28.94m but when the cost of fitting out the state-of-the-art facility is included, the cost of the project rose to €70.7m.

Ms Farrell said all of the projects are badly needed to serve the communities and the health infrastructure is needed following "decades of bad policies and bad decisions" but should be delivered on budget.

The reason provided for the cost overruns was the period of "unforeseen and exceptional inflation" experienced in the construction industry during the three-year period to 2023 as a result of the pandemic and supply-chain issues.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin refuted the claims of wasting public money, citing the thousands of beds provided by the Government "the vast majority on time and within budget".

Tánaiste Micheál Martin refuted claims of wasting public money, citing the thousands of beds provided by Government, 'the vast majority on time and within budget'.  Picture: Dan Linehan

Mr Martin said the presentation of six projects that went over budget was not a balanced representation of the volume of construction projects undertaken by the Government that stayed within budget.

"Over 330 school building projects were delivered in 2023 under the large-scale and additional accommodation programmes. During the national development period 2018-2023, we are looking at 1,200 school building projects completed. That is an enormous amount of construction and transformation of our school system," he said.

As Mr Martin listed off social housing and infrastructure projects delivered on budget, he was accused by Ms Farrell of "talking down the clock", followed by a quip that "you would think there is an election coming".