He said it was an example of the “same old Sinn Féin – when you are against everything, you are for nothing”.
Whatever steps the Government took were criticised by the opposition, he said.
Ms McDonald had criticised the Government over the delay to the hospital, which may now not open to accept patients until 2026 after further delays in construction.
The Sinn Féin leader replied to Mr Donohoe by summing up the Government’s position as she saw it: “It’s the board’s fault. It’s the contractor’s fault. So of course it’s Sinn Féin’s fault. How could it not be?”
Ms McDonald was supported by Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, who accused the Government of constantly passing the buck.
Every time there was a scandal, the Health Minister was “nowhere to be seen”, she said, saying Stephen Donnelly’s criticism of the escalating cost was “a letter to the RTÉ newsroom, copied to the Taoiseach”.
Mr Donohoe acknowledged that the completion date of the hospital had been delayed 14 times in the last four years, including four times in the last 12 months.
Ms McDonald said: “We’re now looking at a completion date of 2026 and we can’t even be sure of that.” She called the affair “a debacle”, “a farce” and “a fiasco”.
She cited a report from KPMG, published today, that calls into question whether the hospital will be ready to open even when it is built.
“There are fears about gaps in staffing and senior leadership teams, and a lack of clarity regarding the future operating model and resourcing of the hospital,” she said.
The project had descended into never-ending delays, ever-growing overspending and zero accountability, she added.
“Nobody in the Government can say for certain when the hospital will open its doors or what the final bill for the taxpayer will be. This fiasco is rooted in government incompetence,” she said.
“It was Taoiseach Simon Harris who gave the go-ahead for the contract with BAM in 2017.
“Then in 2019, despite the big concerns and problems that had already emerged, he again gave the developer his seal of approval by signing the contract for phase two of construction.
“This is the source of all of the problems that have beset the building of the hospital – weak contracts that don’t protect the public purse, don’t hold the developer to delivery dates, and don’t allow for effective oversight of the project.
“Who signs a contract for anything, let alone a hospital, without any idea of what the final cost will be, or when the job will be finished?
“The answer to that question is Simon Harris.”
The National Paediatric Development Board is to appear before the health committee tomorrow to answer questions on the delivery of the new children’s hospital.
The board is expected to reveal the new proposed completion date put forward by BAM when they come before the committee.
The builder has come in for significant criticism, including from Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, who accused BAM of “holding the state to ransom”.
