Minister for Health Simon Harris has indicated the Government will not be re-tendering for the building of the National Children's Hospital.

Mr Harris said he wanted everyone to continue to do what they had signed up to do, "which is to build the hospital that children so desperately need". 

Speaking on RTÉ's Marian Finucane show, Mr Harris said there can be "no going back" on the current project.

However, he said if the PwC report into cost overruns at the hospital suggests any other course of action, the Government will take them very seriously.

Asked about a statement from BAM, in which the company said it had written to the Taoiseach seeking clarification on comments he made in the Dáil on Tuesday, Mr Harris said: "The Taoiseach made very clear in his statement that he wasn't talking about any particular company and the record of the Dáil shows that.

"No one is blaming anyone here, what people are saying, including the Taoiseach, is there is an inquiry, can we let it look into the issues and see where it brings us."

Mr Harris said he did not believe the Taoiseach needed to provide any further clarification on his comments, adding the Government would follow the evidence in relation to the PwC report.

"You don't ask a group of auditors to go in and look at a thing and then start putting out caveats and apologies in advance of it," he said.

The minister dismissed suggestions that the relationship between the Government and the contractor was "toxic".

Asked about a demonstration outside his home last weekend, Mr Harris said such action was a clear attempt to intimidate him and his neighbours.

He said his wife and child had been "followed" home by protesters, and he described their action as a "violation, intimidation and thuggery".

Mr Harris also dismissed suggestions that he was not experienced enough to do his job, saying he had not come from the generation that "bankrupted the country", and that experience should be linked to "values and judgement, not age".

Independent's4Change TD Mick Wallace has said he believes the children's hospital project should be re-tendered.

Mr Wallace said doing so would allow the contract structure to be changed and he said he believes if this is not done, the costs could rise by another half a billion euro.

He said re-tendering and using a different type of contract would give the Government far more information.

Mr Wallace also said that he disagreed with reports that there would not be interest in the project by construction firms.

He said a lot of companies in Europe should and would be interested if the framework was right.

He said while politicians do not like changing their mind, he believed that if the Government re-tendered it could benefit them politically in the long term, that taxpayers could save a lot of money and get a better product at the end of the day.

Sinn Féin Health spokesperson Louise O'Reilly said that Mr Harris is not competent or capable of managing a project the size of the National Children's Hospital.

"He is out of his depth and the Minister needs to go," she said,

Reacting to Minister Harris's interview on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning, Louise O'Reilly said that "we have learned absolutely nothing" new.

"We didn't hear any rational explanation as to why he knew of a massive cost overrun on a capital project and he kept that from the Minister for Finance during the budgetary process," she said.

Ms O'Reilly accused Mr Harris of saying two things at once.

"The Minister has said he will wait until he gets the PwC review and he will act on the recommendations, but he has also ruled out re-tendering the project at this stage. If the Minister has detailed advice as to why that's not a good idea he should be putting it into the public domain."

Ms O'Reilly said the Taoiseach and a new health minister need to step in and start managing the project. 

"We want value for money and if there is a possibility of cost recovery, well then I believe that the Taoiseach should step in at this stage," she said.