Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

Yesterday the health committee heard that the national children's hospital will not be open, possibly, until autumn 2027. The opening of the hospital has now been delayed 18 times. The hospital that the Tánaiste signed off on is record-breaking for all of the wrong reasons. When the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, was asked recently when the hospital will open, she said that the opening date was in the hands of BAM. This is a startling admission. The Minister admitted that she has no control over the delivery of the biggest infrastructure project in the country. Yesterday, at a meeting of the Oireachtas infrastructure committee, Government TDs voted against pre-legislative scrutiny of the new critical infrastructure Bill. On the day that the national children's hospital was postponed for the 18th time, the Government voted against pre-legislative scrutiny of the new critical infrastructure Bill. Does the Tánaiste not recognise the jaw-dropping irony here?

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26