Sinn Féin have called for the Minister for Health Simon Harris to be removed from his position after it was revealed that he recieved a memo last August highlighting cost overruns on the National Children’s Hospital project.
According to reports, it is understood that the Health Minister recieved a memo expressing concerns given that the overall cost of the hospital was €191m over budget.
The controversial information has seemingly upset a number of opposition TD’s as it confirms that Minister Harris knew of the overspend last August.
In a statement released on the Sinn Féin website, the party’s Health Spokesperson Louise O’Reilly called for the Health Minister to be removed from his position.
The statement reads as follows: “Minster Harris’ story is unravelling before our very eyes.”
“The memo published this evening clearly shows that he was aware of a €391million overrun at the hospital as far back as August yet he did not inform the his cabinet colleagues till November 9th.”
“This means that he was aware of a massive cost overrun at the hospital while he and his government were putting together the budget for this year yet he never mentioned it till after the budget was announced.”
“Minister Harris’ position is completely untenable. The Taoiseach must remove him from his position.”
“There is also an onus on Fianna Fáil to make a statement on this matter and they have to stop protecting Minister Harris.”
“They hold the numbers on this. If Micheál Martin changes his position then we can move a motion of no confidence and the Minster will be gone as early as next week.”