Health Minister Pushed for Hospital Opening for EU Event, Not Patients

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill expressed a "clear ambition" to open a new children's hospital in time for a European Union diplomatic event, according to internal documents. The minister made a private plea to the hospital builders, Bam, to finish the facility by April.

However, Bam presented information revealing that completing the hospital by the April deadline would not be possible. This revelation led to the scrapping of the project's 19th deadline. The Daily Mail reported that the push to open the hospital by April was not primarily for patient benefit but to accommodate the EU diplomatic event. The minister's desired visit to the hospital site did not occur.

Internal documents obtained by the Irish Daily Mail indicated the Fine Gael minister's specific objective. The documents show that MacNeill stated it was her "clear ambition" to have the building ready for the EU diplomatic event. The minister's push for an April completion date was not tied to patient care but to this diplomatic engagement.