DUP Questions Accountability For Maternity And Children's Hospital

The DUP has questioned who will be held accountable for the flagship Maternity and Children's Hospital project, which remains ten years overdue and has already consumed £184 million without any work starting on site.

The party's Health spokesperson, Diane Dodds MLA, added that the "tax-paying public will find it hard to believe that £184 million has already been spent on the flagship Maternity and Children’s Hospital without anything commencing on site for the Children’s Hospital before next year".

The DUP MLA for Upper Bann said: "Material provided to me by the Health Minister following a series of Assembly Questions includes confirmation that the Children’s Hospital will not be operational before 2030 at the earliest. Consequently, the project will be at least a decade late. It had been expected that the entire flagship project would be completed by 2020 with the maternity part completed by 2015.

"The new main Maternity Hospital building becoming operational has been delayed due to contamination of the water systems, which will delay subsequent phases of the Maternity aspect of the overall project. Given that similar difficulties with pipe-work emerged during the commissioning stages for the Critical Care Building on the RVH site, what lessons had been learned by the Belfast Trust and Department?

"The lack of progress and time lost led to campaigners approaching me concerned that planning permissions may lapse. Those responsible need to be held accountable for these delays and the costs that result. It is unacceptable for public money to be squandered in this way. Many senior officials in the Minister’s Department and arms-length bodies are employed specifically to ensure such projects are a success. Comprehensive answers are required, with full transparency and accountability."