Completion of €2.2bn National Children’s Hospital pushed out to February 2025, PAC hears

The delay follows confirmation that the most recent timeline of October 29 for finishing the €2.2bn hospital would not be met.

David Gunning of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board told the committee that the contractors BAM, in its most recent monthly update, said the new completion date was 2025.

He said the board has directed the contractor to provide an updated progress report and it is yet to receive it.

He said: “The contract with BAM states that substantial completion is August 2022. Some additional time has been awarded to BAM by the Employer’s Representative (ER) which has extended the contractual substantial completion date to November 2022. Since March 2020, BAM has changed its forecast completion date multiple times

“The latest Baseline Programme submission was received on the 29th September 2023, and included a stated Substantial Completion date of 29th October 2024.

"This was evaluated by and determined as not being compliant with the Contract. BAM is not meeting its contractual obligation in providing an updated Programme which is compliant with the requirements of the Contract.

"The ER has requested an updated revised Baseline Programme from BAM that address’s the programme comments issued by the ER, as is required under the Contract.”

The latest comes after Health Minister Stephen Donnelly signalled recently that it could be November before the building work is finished – but he wants it ready by the end of the year.

Officials from the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board are appearing before PAC today, and are also due to outline the ongoing rise in claims from builders that could add further to the €2.2bn cost.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 29th May 2024

Speaking this morning, the chair of the Public Accounts Committee Brian Stanley said it could "run into 2026 before we actually treat patients" in the Children's Hospital.

Mr Stanley stressed that the contractor has not kept to the dates and the hospital's board "does not have the necessary levers" to be able to hold the contractors to this timeline.

He said they conceded this in the documentation containing their opening statement which was sent to the PAC this morning ahead of the meeting.

"We have a situation where dates get continuously pushed out. The latest one was for October of this year for substantial completion of the building,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

"There is a commissioning period after that. People have to get on-site, equipment has to be checked, some fitting out has to be done," he said.

"They envisage six months... I think it will be more like nine to 12 months. You are looking at best case scenario, the back end of 2025. I hope it's sooner but some people and myself are of the view that this could run into early 2026 before we actually treat patients," he added.

Around €600m in claims from BAM the construction company have yet to be assessed and resolved. The board is contesting the claims but it runs the risk of the Government having to step in with a further bailout.

Last February the Government gave the go-ahead to another €500m to fund the hospital.

At the time, then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar said no more money would be allocated to the project, which was originally due to be finished in 2015 at a cost of €650m.

Members of the PAC are expected to quiz the officials today and demand that a final cost and completion date be given.

Completion

It will take six months or more for the hospital to be ready to accept the first patients once construction has finished. A major job of work involving fit-out and readiness to ensure children can be safely treated in the new hospital will follow.

It means that the hospital will not be opened before the current Government goes to the polls in a general election and it will be well in to the summer of 2025 before the first patient passes the threshold.

The mounting cost of the hospital, which has taken years to construct, is likely to be felt many years after it opens because of the delay in assessing claims by the builder.

The new hospital will replace the three existing children’s hospitals in Dublin. The New Children’s Hospital will merge three existing children’s hospital into a singular body and will be located adjacent to St. James (adult) Hospital.

Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital (Crumlin), Temple Street Children’s Hospital (Dublin) and The National Children’s Hospital (Tallaght), will join together resulting in all paediatric specialists being under one roof.

It will have 6,150 rooms in total, 380 of which will be individual en-suite inpatient bedrooms, each with a bed for the parents.

The hospital will have 1,000 parking spaces, 675 of which will be dedicated to families.

It will have a 53-bed family accommodation facility with outdoor space with 14 gardens and courtyards..

The hospital will have 22 operating theatres and procedure rooms and it will be the first public digital hospital in Ireland.