No explanation for resignation from hospital board
The Taoiseach has admitted he does not know why the State’s chief procurement officer, Paul Quinn , resigned from the development board of the National Children’s Hospital.
The Government is to face further questions over the spiralling costs of the hospital as well as health and safety concerns on the site tomorrow after opposition TDs called for an urgent Dáil debate.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has indicated that the cost of the Children’s Hospital, which is already running €455m over budget, could increase yet again as the contractors involved have submitted numerous claims.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin pressed him on Mr Quinn’s decision to resign from the development board of the hospital.
The resignation, reported by the Irish Examiner this week, was revealed in the August minutes of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), which were only released in recent days.
Mr Varadkar was criticised by a number of TDs in the Dáil for dismissing the resignation after he claimed it had happened in July and was “not new news”.
He said: “He has not resigned from his day job of working as a civil servant, but he has resigned from his position on the board, and his decision on that is a matter for himself. I don’t know the reason for it. Nor do I have any reason to believe that conspiracy theory behind it.”
Mr Martin hit out at the Taoiseach’s “detached, none-of-my-business” attitude, while Labour leader Brendan Howlin said Mr Varadkar’s reaction was “not acceptable”.
“We need to have great clarity about the biggest construction project in the state sector that’s underway right now,” he said.
The August minutes of the NPHDB reveal that contractor BAM put in additional claims around extra spending which is outside the scope of work.
“It is possible, as is the case with any construction contract, for a contractor to make claims, or additional expenditure that was not covered in the contract, where it does occur,” Mr Varadkar told the Dáil when questioned on the matter. “They’re independently assessed before any decision is made on whether they should be granted or not.”
