Construction BUSINESS

The European Investment Bank is to provide a loan of €490 million to support construction of the new children’s hospital in Dublin. This represents the largest ever financial engagement by the European Union’s long-term lending institution in Ireland and the EIB’s first backing for a hospital in the country.

The new children’s hospital project includes two new Paediatric Outpatients and Urgent Care Centres, one at Tallaght Hospital on the south side of the city and one at Connolly Hospital, on the north side of the city. The Connolly facility will open first in 2019, with the Tallaght one following soon after in 2020.

“The new Children’s Hospital is the largest single healthcare investment in our history. It will transform the way in which we deliver care to sick children and their families. This loan from the European Investment Bank, the largest loan it has provided to Ireland to date, will allow us to build a world class hospital which will be a centre of paediatric research and medical education, as well as a safe and secure environment for families of sick children. It will be state of the art. Every child will have a single room.  There will be parent accommodation, a garden and a school. It will be born digital with the newest equipment and technology,” said An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Once open in 2022 the new children’s hospital will provide 380 individual inpatient rooms, each with a parent bed, 93 day care beds, 22 operating theatres and a 53-unit family accommodation facility, as well as 4 acres of outdoor gardens and courtyards.

The new children’s hospital will be Ireland’s leading centre for paediatric research and medical education. The location of paediatric care, research and innovation on a single site will help to foster further collaborative discoveries and improve innovation in specialist patient care.

The new hospital is expected to be the first acute hospital in Ireland to use electronic health records and play a key role in the future digitalisation of the Irish health sector. The EIB will finance the new children’s hospital through the National Treasury Management Agency and construction will be overseen by the Department of Health. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board is responsible for planning, designing, building and equipping the new hospital on foot of a project brief from the Health Service Executive and approved by the Minister of Health.

This represents the first EIB financing for a new hospital in Ireland since the start of EIB lending in the country in 1973 and follows EIB support totalling €70 million for construction of 14 primary health care centres agreed in May 2016.

“The EU Bank is committed to increasing support for new investment that improves lives and economic opportunities across Ireland. The largest ever EIB loan in Ireland reflects the diligent preparation and broad benefits expected from the new children’s hospital,” said Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

“The Eur490 million European Investment Bank support for construction of Ireland’s new children’s hospital confirmed today is very welcome.This project will enable a transformation of acute paediatric health care services in this country.Hundreds of jobs will be created during construction, and once open, care will be provided in 39 different specialties,” said Simon Harris TD, Minister for Health. “Construction of the new hospital is underway already, turning years of planning and consultation into reality and providing opportunities for local contractors and apprentices in the construction phase. When the hospital opens, it will employ 3,700 people bringing even more employment and expenditure into the area.”

The new hospital will both consolidate and modernise paediatric hospital care for the Greater Dublin Area and transform tertiary care for children and young people for the whole country.

“The new children’s hospital is already providing opportunities for construction, engineering, mechanical and electrical firms from across the country that are already working on site and once operational healthcare, research and family support will be world class,” added Andrew McDowell, Vice President of the European Investment Bank.

The European Investment Bank is the world’s largest international public bank and over the last decade the EIB has provided more than €16.5 billion for hospital and healthcare investment in 25 European Union countries. This has included support for construction of new teaching hospitals and primary health care centres, as well as upgrading and expanding existing healthcare facilities.

CAPTION:

EIB President Hoyer discussing the €490 million support for Ireland’s new children hospital with the Taoiseach and Finance and Health ministers.