Minister for Health Simon Harris has denied that spending on the new National Children's Hospital is out of control.
Reports today suggest the hospital costs will hit the €1.4bn mark, which is more than double what was estimated a few years ago.
The Opposition has expressed concern and wondered what effect such a spend would have on other projects.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Harris said the Government had made a conscious decision to increase spending on the project in order to deliver a "state-of-the-art facility".
"Every single cent of this investment will be money well spent on children's healthcare, and money that should have been spent decades ago. It will give every child in this country access to world-class healthcare," said Mr Harris.
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He said he has every confidence in the "hugely competent" people who are working on the project.
The minister added that he would update Cabinet colleagues on the estimated spend at their weekly meeting on Tuesday morning.
His comments follow claims from Labour's health spokesperson Alan Kelly, who asked whether other projects, such as the new National Maternity Hospital at the St Vincent's site Elm Park, would be affected by the overrun.
Mr Kelly said that Minister Harris wrote to Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe in September seeking further funding.
"There isn't an infinite budget here, so what projects are falling off?" Mr Kelly said.
Mr Harris responded that he had successfully secured a very large capital budget for his department.
After more than a decade of wrangling over its location, the new National Children's Hospital got planning permission in 2016 at the St James's Hospital site in Dublin.
The latest estimate for construction to be finished is the end of 2022.
On the same programme, Mr Harris said that while abortion services may not be available in every hospital from 1 January 2019, terminations would be accessible to Irish women.
He said that while services would not be available in The Coombe immediately, he expected them to be available before the end of January.
The Wicklow TD said it would take time for the services to evolve and embed into the broader healthcare system.
He said that once the bill was signed by President Michael D Higgins, he would authorise the HSE to start a public awareness campaign that will include a 24/7 helpline that will go live from 1 January.
Mr Harris also said that "a huge amount of work has been done" in drawing up clinical guidelines for medical terminations.
He said he understood the draft guidelines, prepared by the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Irish College of General Practitioners, would be circulated in the coming days.
