{"id":277617,"date":"2026-01-10T12:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/277617\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T12:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:09:08","slug":"jennifer-carroll-macneill-on-the-health-year-ahead-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/277617\/","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill on the health year ahead \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI wish BAM would just give me the hospital,\u201d Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill<\/a> says when discussing plans for the year ahead. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost one year since she took up one of the biggest ministerial portfolios in Government, and the Fine Gael TD has her eye on priorities on which she wants to focus during her second year in the job. <\/p>\n

But there\u2019s one story that seems like a never-ending headache for any politician in her seat: the new \u20ac2.2 billion national children\u2019s hospital, which has been beset by delays and cost overruns.<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s Health Ireland<\/a> (CHI) received early access to the site in December, eight months later than initially had been promised. Cleaning is under way on the floor provided \u2013 the sixth floor, which has 360 rooms \u2013 before equipment is brought in.<\/p>\n

But the Minister said the one floor is \u201cnot enough\u201d and the next step will be getting further access. Her frustration with contractor BAM is evident throughout a wide-ranging interview, though she acknowledges the company has been more responsive since October.<\/p>\n

When will the hospital be finished? \u201cI\u2019d love to tell you. I would have told you that would be September or I would have told you that would be November and that didn\u2019t happen,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to say when it\u2019s BAM who are in control of that and you know we\u2019re negotiating early access that we should have had two or three months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once keys are handed over, commissioning is expected to take between seven and eight months, Carroll MacNeill says, due to the intricacies of some of the equipment. This has been reduced from the previous plan of nine months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to do as much as we can. This is why it\u2019s difficult. We shouldn\u2019t be doing one floor. We should be in cleaning the whole thing and moving the equipment in together,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are taking this because this is what BAM has given us. BAM should just finish it, move out and let us do the whole thing in one go and that would expedite the process. If we get it bitty bit, here and there, that makes it more difficult. I wish BAM would just give me the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0National children\u2019s hospital developer BAM\u2019s claims \u2018not credible\u2019, says MinisterOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

But the hospital isn\u2019t the only item on her in-tray for the forthcoming 12 months. Sitting at a table in her office in the Department of Health, the Minister has colour-coded spreadsheets laid out in front of her outlining trolley numbers in the various hospitals around the State.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve become a familiar sight since she took up the role, with the South Dublin woman placing a keen focus on improving patient flow and reducing congestion in the acute hospital system. <\/p>\n

Provisional health service data showed an 11 per cent reduction in patients waiting on trolleys last year when compared to 2024, despite a 4 per cent increase in attendances. This is something the Minister wants to advance further in 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne, because it\u2019s a value in itself to patient safety, to the hospital experience and in particular the experiences of the doctors, nurses and healthcare workers in the emergency department who deserve a stable, peaceful environment to work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"JenniferJennifer Carroll MacNeill and Northern Ireland’s Minister for Health, Mike Nesbitt, on a visit to the new national children’s hospital. Photograph: Bryan Brophy <\/p>\n

\u201cBut two, because it\u2019s the gate to predictable hospital management on so many other things. You can\u2019t bring in elective surgeries to a hospital that\u2019s dangerously overcrowded in its ED; you can\u2019t plan cancer care in the correct way. There are so many things contingent on having a hospital that is managing demand in a predictable, managed way.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way of doing this has been to change the way the health system works. Doctors and other healthcare staff are now working five over seven days, increasing weekend and evening work.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0More hospital beds to be provided in midwest to tackle overcrowding, says MinisterOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

One of her first statements she issued last year when she was appointed to the role was critical of the spike in trolley numbers during the February bank holiday weekend. During this time, she said, only 10 per cent of hospital consultants were working \u2013 resulting in slower discharge of patients and a disruption to patient flow.<\/p>\n

There was frustration and disquiet from consultants when the comments were circulated, but Carroll MacNeill shrugs when asked about how the communication was received. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I did was I asked for the contract that consultants had signed be implemented. If I had signed a contract, I would expect to be working according to the terms of that contract,\u201d the Fine Gael TD says.<\/p>\n

Increasing weekend rostering has been an \u201cincremental process\u201d over the year, she says. Some hospitals were quick \u2013 she points to the Mater as a positive example \u2013 but others \u201chave taken longer\u201d to get to that point.<\/p>\n

The public-only consultant contract (POCC), which seeks to remove private healthcare from the public system, came into full effect this month.<\/p>\n

It was first introduced in 2023, with a transitional period that allowed those who signed the new contract to wind down private care in public buildings until the end of last year, but this has since ended.<\/p>\n

Consequently, private maternity options for patients have been significantly curbed, due to there being no private maternity hospital in the State.<\/p>\n

Carroll MacNeill says the liability for maternity care if something goes wrong is so great that consultants are unable to get insurance for that, and so the State \u201cunderpins the liability of private obstetrics\u201d.<\/p>\n

Birth injury is the \u201csingle biggest liability the State has in terms of injuries that happen\u201d, the Minister said, adding that it costs close to \u20ac4 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if something goes wrong, I go to a private consultant and pay the private consultant \u20ac3,000 or \u20ac5,000 and something happens to my baby in the birth, the private consultant isn\u2019t liable. The Irish State is liable for that child,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very, very serious thing. The State underpins and continues to underpin all of that liability for work done in public hospitals, but should the State underpin liability for exclusively private practice in obstetrics? They [the obstetrician] were paid for it. I think that\u2019s a pretty reasonable question to ask,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Her department is a big one, having received a record \u20ac27.4 billion budget for 2026. There has been a focus on productivity and cost savings, and reducing the reliance on agency work is one thing that will receive attention in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\"MinisterMinister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill following the launch of the national rare disease strategy 2025-2030 in August. Photograph: Brian Lawless\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

The country\u2019s drugs budget is significant, with \u20ac3 to \u20ac4 billion this year being spent on pharmaceuticals alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole defence budget, everything to do with defence in Ireland, is \u20ac1.5 billion. We spend twice that just on medicine. That\u2019s only going in one direction both as population increases, diagnostics improve when people are being treated appropriately with medicine and as more medicines become available,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you have to ask yourself at the most macro level, as a proportion of public spending, how big should that be in any economy?\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent months, The Irish Times revealed that four voluntary hospitals have breached public pay scales, with their chief executives receiving salaries higher than those outlined in rules by the Department of Public Expenditure. This, Carroll MacNeill says, is \u201cextraordinary\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no justification for it. It\u2019s clearly against the rules. It has to be terminated and the appropriate contract put in place and look at reparation,\u201d she says. \u201cI find it hard to understand how mistakes of that kind can be made, especially more than once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compliance with pay scales wasn\u2019t the only issue that emerged in recent months. Among the biggest challenges were concerns around governance, safety and quality of care for some paediatric spinal and orthopaedic patients at CHI.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly last year we had a number of different legacy difficult issues, particularly with CHI, that required a lot of time and management. That\u2019s probably the biggest challenge because you can see the human implications for parents and for children,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI wish BAM would just give me the hospital,\u201d Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill says when discussing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[22644,9,10,45,3496,18,13,14,6,19,17,5002,11,12,15,16,2272,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-277617","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-bam","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-children-s-health-ireland-chi","12":"tag-department-of-health","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-featured-news","15":"tag-featurednews","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-jennifer-carroll-macneill","20":"tag-latest-news","21":"tag-latestnews","22":"tag-main-news","23":"tag-mainnews","24":"tag-national-childrens-hospital","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-top-stories","27":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115870732483019064","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}