Children's Hospital contractor submits 600 claims for extra costs totalling more than €200m

Building works taking place on the site of the new National Children’s Hospital in Dublin. Picture: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie

More than 600 claims for extra costs of more than €200m have been submitted by the National Children's Hospital contractor, it has been revealed.

However, Oireachtas Health Committee has been told that the board does not have a revised cost for the project and is still working to the original €1.433bn budget despite receiving a significant number of claims.

Social Democrat co-leader Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall accused the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) of being "delusional" after its chief officer David Gunning said they are still working to the original timeline, despite the fact that the project has been delayed by at least nine months this year.

Mr Gunning said he could not give a completion date for the project, but payments to the contractor were 43% below what had been projected in October which "gives an indication in financial terms" of how far behind the project is.

When further pressed on the expected completion date, Mr Gunning said: “I anticipate we will be working with the contractor and providing updated guidance to stakeholders on the schedule in early next year, that is the position."

He went on to confirm that the August 2022 deadline will not be met.

Questions

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall described the situation as "deeply unsatisfactory" and said serious questions remain about escalating costs and delays to the National Children’s Hospital project.

Mr Gunning also revealed that the hospital board sought legal advice on terminating the building contract this year.

"It was considered but was not triggered," he said.

When Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane asked if the board considered "pulling the plug" on the contract with BAM, Mr Gunning confirmed that the board had discussed "all the options open to us" including conciliation.

He later said that the Government had been made aware of this.

The committee was told that an extra €15m will be needed to cover legal costs associated with fighting claims made by the contractor, BAM, from the start of 2020 to the middle of 2022.

However, Mr Gunning could not say how much had originally been budgeted for legal fees.

When questioned by Fine Gael's Colm Burke on the number of claims that have been settled between the contractor and the National Children's Hospital board Mr Gunning said only "a handful... not many" had been dealt with to date.

He was later pressed for final costs and completion dates but told Senator Martin Conway that "in the absence of a compliant programme from the contractor, it's extremely difficult for us to provide you with this level of detail that you require".