Dozens of desktop computers were stolen from the €2.2billion National Children’s Hospital in July, Children’s Health Ireland has confirmed.

The 36 computers are estimated to be worth around €1,000 each and were taken from areas of the hospital that have already been handed over to the State.

Gardaí have launched an investigation into the alleged theft, which took place over Thursday, July 30 and Friday, July 31 and was noticed by IT staff from the children’s health agency, who alerted gardaí.

In response to a parliamentary question from Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, CHI chief information officer Professor Neil O’Hare confirmed the alleged theft.

Prof. O’Hare, in a letter to the Meath West TD, wrote that the 36 desktop computers were stolen from the ‘Early Access areas’.

‘The matter has been reported to An Garda Síochána at Kilmainham, [in Dublin], and an investigation is currently in progress,’ Prof O’Hare wrote.

Construction firm BAM, leading the development of the project on the campus of St James’s Hospital in Dublin, has been handing over segments of the building to the State, through CHI.

While the project’s deadline has been repeatedly missed, 19 times as of April this year, the sixth floor, the ICU, post-operative areas, staff rooms, outdoor play areas, and classrooms for children have been handed over.

In previous submissions to the Oireachtas, CHI and the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill have hailed the handing over of the early access areas as a significant step forward. But, in response to Deputy Tóibín, Prof O’Hare claimed that the entire site ‘remains under the control of BAM’ until it is fully completed.

A new deadline has not been set for the project.

A spokesman for BAM said it was unable to comment, citing the ongoing Garda investigation. The Oireachtas Infrastructure Committee was previously told the site may not open until 2029.

Prof O’Hare, a CHI executive, said he could only speak for incidents of theft impacting property belonging to the agency or the board behind the project’s development.

A CHI spokeswoman said a review of security arrangements for all early access areas has taken place since the alleged theft, leading to the closure of all routes into the areas.

Mr Tóibín said the incident was a consequence of the hospital building not being in use, stating: ‘If the hospital is unused, there is a greater chance there will be more items stolen.’

The Aontú TD added that the development of the hospital is ‘descending into a farce’ and called on the agencies behind the project’s development to appear before the Oireachtas.

Once the National Children’s Hospital project is complete, commissioning the fit-out of the building, including installing new computer equipment and IT infrastructure, will take up to nine months.

Minister Carroll MacNeill has suggested that should equipment commissioning and installation plans progress as scheduled, the hospital may open around six months after its completion.