Children's Hospital chair stands down

Tom Costello

News broke on Saturday morning (February 2nd), that Tom Costello, chairperson of the National Children’s Hospital Development Board, who was brought into the position six years ago, would be stepping down amid controversy over the rising costs of the National Children's Hospital.

In a statement on Saturday morning, he said he is concerned about the: "reputational damage that the ongoing commentary about the increased cost of the hospital is having on this critically important project" but also insisted that: "Every decision made by the board has been guided by what was deemed best for the project."

Yesterday, it was revealed an independent review by PWC into the spending over-run, which is coming in at a cost of €450,000 to tax-payers, will "stop short of determining culpability at the individual level".

Mr Costello said that he acted with “professionalism and integrity” in all his dealings with the project’s stakeholders, including Minister for Health Simon Harris and the Department of Health.

Health Minister, Simon Harris, has accepted Mr Costello’s resignation, and has thanked him for his service.