More questions needed on how cost of National Children's Hospital went from €983m to €1.7bn, says Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin says further questions will be asked about the cost overrun at the new National Children's Hospital when the HSE appears before the Health Committee next week.
The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board appeared before the Committee yesterday to explain why the bill has increased from €983m in February 2017 to €1.7bn now.
The Chair of the board overseeing the building of the facility says the process “worked well”, despite the cost overrunning by at least €450m.
But Sinn Féin's Health Spokesperson Louise O'Reilly, who also serves on the committee, said further questions need to be asked.
Ms O'Reilly said: "Cost overruns are to be expected, we are all aware of construction inflation and we know how that works, but this is quite a substantial overrun.
"We started off with a figure of just over €600m and it's now at the stage where it's €1.7bn, including VAT, that's a hell of a cost overrun.
"It's down to the health committee and the Public Accounts Committee to process this and to get some answers "
