One TD has said she is concerned about the prospect of further delays, and higher costs, on the National Children’s Hospital.
Catherine Murphy, Social Democrats TD for Kildare-North, was speaking as doctors have been told the hospital will open 11 years after its original deadline.
Last September builders Royal BAM said the building was over 70% complete and was due to open in September 2024.
However, paediatricians were recently told the new deadline is March 2025.
Deputy Murphy told The Hard Shoulder there are too many unknowns at this point.
"One piece of correspondence that, for example, the Public Accounts Committee have received is saying that the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board - who were the ones charged with this project - have not received the programme for substantial completion," she said.
"They've been trying to get the contractor to provide them with that for several months now.
"That will give us the actual timeline that the builder is working to - but it's not a good sign that they haven't been provided with that.
"It certainly underpins the concern about a further delay".
'We won't know the cost'
Deputy Murphy said claims being made against the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board mean the true cost is still unknown.
"There's something like 1,800 claims have been made, a lot of those have been disputed," she said.
"There's still something like 600 of those to be gone through [and] some of those will end up in the courts.
"That'll be fought out in the courts after the hospital opens, but we won't know how much the hospital will have cost until those claims are settled".
Deputy Murphy added: "It would worry me that we're being told that the board still haven't got the programme for substantial completion.
"That's when the keys will be handed over... but if that programme is not available, even at this stage, I would be concerned about that".
Deputy Murphy, who is a member of the Public Accounts Committee, has said they will be discussing this topic at a meeting on Thursday.
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