New Children's Hospital

[beanaseireann]

Anyone else appalled by the cost overrun on the new Children's hospital and the fact that nobody is accountable to the Irish tax payer.
They are so flathúlach with other people's money.
What qualifications / experience did Simon Harris have to be given such a responsible job as Minister for Health ?
To me it shows the contempt, the person who appointed him, has for the Irish people.

[honeyrider]

He's no worse than any of the previous health ministers. That ministerial role is a poisoned chalice. It's beyond shocking what's going on with the cost of the children's hospital.

[beanaseireann]

So he's apologised in the Dail and that makes everything all right so.
Not in my world.
I think if all those projects which need money.......
Worn out carers desperate to get some respite.
Children with special needs who don't have the help they need.
People wanting a home rather than staying in a b&b........

I'd love to know who has gained financially. I wish some journalist would follow the money trail. Somebody has profited.

[3timeslucky]

The company who tendered successfully have been reported to have a track record in bidding low and then increasing what they charge. The tender specified that 75% weighting would be given to the cost. In the private sector a company with that kind of reputation would have been excluded. I hope they never earn a brass cent from any other public sector contract (or indeed private). It beggar's belief that such behaviour can be rewarded. But you can definitely follow the money to them.

Add to that it was a two stage tender because details had not been fleshed out. But the reality is that once a company had got stage one it would have been near impossible to give stage two to a different company because of potential issues with liability if anything went wrong.

As for Simon Harris, he is as well qualified as any other Minister for Health (or anyone else whose ever sat in the Dail). Sure we've had a Taoiseach whose claim to qualification was being a school teacher is a tiny school in Mayo. Baying for Harris' blood will get us nowhere. What stellar candidate would you replace him with? Someone with even less experience. I'd rather he stayed, learned from the experience rather than falling on his sword.

To be clear, what has happened with the hospital is an absolute disgrace. Anyone who has so much as built an extension on their house would appear to know more about managing a tender and costs than the shower of incompetents who managed this process. However that wasn't Harris. At the very least I hope that there have been serious learnings about this type of process or we'll end up with a re-run on our next major capital spend project. Sigh.

[tazzy73]

I agree the minister of health is a poisoned chalice but this should not stop them questioning the costs.
There has to be someone profiting from this venture. Someone has to be getting brown envelopes.
There were offered the green site in Blanchardstown, that wasn't good enough, why?
They said it needed to be beside a teaching hospital and needed maternity services. Connolly teaches/train's both doctors and nurses. Rotunda moving out there so that blows those theories out of the water.
James's has the luas, I'm sorry but I'm not going to be getting on that with a sick child.
There still be less beds in the new hospital than the other 2 children's hospitals put together.

I do think Simon Harris will be out of a job post Brexit. They can't do it now as the government need to play chicken with British government at the moment.

Health service needs a major overhaul in Ireland.

Tazzy.

[3timeslucky]

The decision about the site was nothing to do with Harris. And yes there are definitely questions (which were asked at the time and continue to be asked) as to what madness led to the James' site. Not necessarily brown envelopes - because no-one actually benefits financially from it being there. So much more likely to be political pressures.

James' is a nightmare to build in - and the site is a contributor to the looney costs. It is a traffic hellhole. There's no parking to speak of. And the Luas is largely irrelevant except to a small number of visitors. I'd love to see the current mess used as a reason to revisit the site choice - cost of building in James versus cost of building out on the M50 (though that is also a traffic hellhole and a serious problem when an accident closes it down). I wonder how much they're recoup in building costs by moving site? I know there'd be a delay. But I'd rather a delay and the right hospital in the right place that getting it wrong and living with it for forever.

[CandyFlossLegend]

He needs to go NOW and without a big payout and perks. So angry at their abuse and wasteful attitude.

[beanaseireann]

Noel Smyth the developer was offering a free site at Newlands Cross I think. Good location.
Let's not forget all the wasted money spent on designs for the Children's Hospital at the Mater when Bertie was in power.
The whole thing is scandalous- a waste of time ( it should have been built long ago) and money.
In the words of O' Casey "...yis have disgraced yourselves again..."