Month: March 2019

Press Release

“Latest Children’s Hospital resignation only deepens the fiasco,” Mattie McGrath

20-03-2019

Independent TD Mattie McGrath has said he welcomes the decision by the Chief Engineer of the National children’s Hospital to resign from his post. Deputy McGrath was speaking after Mr John Pollock, who has overseen the development of the site as Project director from its inception announced that he was stepping down from the role:

“All I can say is that this is one tendering that Mr Pollock appears to have gotten right.

In January I called on Minister Harris to use his discretion under The Code of Governance Manual for the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, and sack the entire Board.

The Code itself is absolutely clear: ‘The Board shall be accountable to the body public and the Minister (through the Department of Health), for its activities, its stewardship of public funds and the extent to which key deliverables and objectives have been met.”

Unfortunately Minister Harris failed to take the necessary action.

Instead he has created a situation whereby we are effectively witnessing a delayed mass resignation process; adding further disarray to the entire project.

As I understand it this is the fifth resignation from the Board.

What is galling to read however are the allusions Mr Pollock makes in his resignation statement to significant milestones being achieved and the operation of a “rigorous” procurement process for constructing the building.”

This is exactly and precisely what did not happen. Mr Pollock assured us all in 2014 that the Hospital would up and running by end of 2018.

Now he expects us to believe that it will be open by 2023. This is completely farcical.

The problem here is not the resignation but the incredible persistence in repeating absolute nonsense about how well the project is going, as can be seen in Mr Pollock’s statement and the NCHDB reaction to that statement.

The government must conduct an immediate independent investigation in order to assess the viability of re-tendering at a green-field site,” concluded Deputy McGrath.

END

Press Release

 

“Hypocrisy and contradictions galore during Children’s Hospital debate,” Mattie McGrath

 

13-03-2019

 

Independent TD Mattie McGrath has said he is bitterly disappointed at the decision of both Fianna Fail and the Labour Party not to support a Motion calling for the suspension of works at the National Children’s Hospital at St James pending the outcome of an Independent Investigation. Deputy McGrath was speaking after he and members of the Rural Independent Group along with several other Independent deputies sought support for their Private Members Motion on the issue:

 

“Last night, all the members of the Dáil had an opportunity to re-evaluate their support for the location of the NCH at St James’ in light of the catastrophic cost over-runs and ongoing access issues.

 

I am sorry to say that instead of doing that, they chose to support this government in its absolutely bewildering decision to proceed at this disastrous site.

 

We had the Health Spokesperson for Fianna Fail, Deputy Stephen Donnelly openly accept that at €1.7 billion, the Irish people are paying several times more per bed than the most expensive hospitals anywhere in the world.

 

In addition to that he also accepted that the two most expensive hospitals ever built, in Adelaide and Stockholm, came in at €1.8 million and €1.6 million per hospital bed.

 

The national children’s hospital, coming in at €3.6 million per hospital bed, is therefore more than twice that of the most expensive hospitals ever built.

 

Yet despite this he then turned around and actively supported the government decision to proceed on the unsubstantiated basis that it might take “ten years” for the greenfield site location to get up and going.

 

Not only was this utterly bizarre and nonsensical-it was a perfect illustration of the two faced approach to this issue that has dominated the Fianna Fail position.

 

Labour were no better. Deputy Alan Kelly accepted the whole process was an unmitigated farce and yet he too rowed in behind Minister Harris and the government. The hypocrisy is rank.

 

It was also pointed out during the debate that the very PWC Report into the cost overruns, estimated at €450,000 is now going to be approx €600,000 or more when the 23% vat rate and expenses are added in.

 

Those who lost most from this debate are of course the families and children of the state who will have to live with this monumental failure of political courage for decades to come,” concluded Deputy McGrath.

 

END