Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly says the courts will decide the final cost of the National Children's Hospital, because €700m of it under dispute in a negotiation between the State and the contractor.
"My core focus is getting this hospital open," the minister said in an interview with Prime Time.
"We will have a cost for the children's hospital when the €700 million under dispute has been resolved. That could take some time."
"Can we expect that it could be the end of next year?" asked presenter Sarah McInerney.
"By the time we get a final cost, it could be further than that," the minister responded. "Some of the claims are before the courts. It's a matter for the courts to decide how long that will take."
It was originally estimated in 2015 that the new children’s hospital would cost €650 million. In 2017, the Government approved a budget of €983 million. However, the current overall cost estimate is €1.7 billion.
The dispute between the contractor and the State threatens to push the total cost above €2bn.
The estimated completion date is currently May 2024, but has been pushed back repeatedly.
Relationships between the contractor, BAM, and the board of the hospital deteriorated significantly earlier this year.
The contractor contends that there have been a large number of design changes which have delayed development, something the board of the hospital rejects.
Minister Donnelly told Prime Time that the negotiation process to resolve the dispute "will go on all through next year. Several of the claims have now gone to the High Court, so it's going to take some time."
He was also asked about proposals he brought to cabinet on Tuesday to legislate for surrogacy.
He said the proposed legislation will allow for 'altruistic surrogacy’, which would permit payments made to surrogates abroad only for the purpose of covering costs involved.
The process, he said, would be regulated by a new authority.
"Healthcare bills - they may have legal bills. There will be a cost associated with the pregnancy," the minister said. "They may want to take time off work... [but] no profit."
He said "there is a concern" that some same-sex couples may struggle to access surrogacy when commercial arrangements are banned.
"This is something that we're going to have to see how it unfolds," he said.
"The authority will look at jurisdictions around the world, there may well be countries where the countries do not allow it in terms of same sex couples, be it men or women. We can take a look to that... and it would be our intention that there are jurisdictions that any couple would be able to apply to, be they a heterosexual couple or a same sex couple."
He said the new authority will regulate "all assisted human reproduction", including IVF and domestic and international surrogacy.
Sarah McInerney's full interview with Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly features on the Tuesday 12 December edition of Prime Time, on RTÉ One television at 9.35pm.
