Harris must be clear about progress of all health capital projects
Labour Party Health spokesperson, Alan Kelly TD, has said that Minister Simon Harris must explain what is being cut out of the Health capital budget because of the Children’s Hospital overspend.
Deputy Kelly said:
“Minister Harris needs to come before the Health Committee or the Public Accounts Committee to account for how a project which he described as being delivered “on budget and on time” in 2017 is now running over budget by up to €450 million in 2018.
“Budgets are there for a reason and there are other major projects underway at the moment. The National Maternity Hospital, the 96 bed unit in University Hospital Limerick, the provision of expert diagnostic equipment, primary care centres, IT upgrades, step down beds just to name a few. Will these projects suffer now or even happen at all?
“Minister Harris needs to be clear with the public on the progress of project which are publicly funded.
“Irish people are rightly very anxious about the provision of healthcare services and to hear that a huge project like the National Children’s Hospital is delayed and over budget is hugely worrying for many people.
“Minister Harris needs to be upfront and give a detailed account of time frames for delivery and costs of capital projects.”