Government accused of 'losing control' of Children's Hospital project
The main entrance at the site of the new Children's Hospital. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
The Government has been accused of “losing control” of the new National Children’s Hospital project while a procurement expert has said it could be 18 months before a child is treated there.
That is after Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the contractors BAM submitted a new finish date for their part in the build but did not say what this date is, during an interview with RTÉ.
He described delays to this point as “deeply frustrating”. The first date submitted had been March 2024, which was revised to May, he said.
“Then they resubmitted again with another date which the Board at this point has not accepted, and is in very intensive engagement with the contractor on this,” he said.
Asked what the latest date is, he said “there isn’t an agreed final or future date”, adding this is because the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has not accepted the new estimate.
The Social Democrats accused the Government of losing control of the project with its TD Catherine Murphy saying the changes are “deeply troubling”.
“While conceding that the latest completion date of May 2024 will not be met, he refused to reveal the revised handover deadline put forward by the developer. This suggests there has been a further drift in the works schedule that far exceeds our worst expectations,” she said.
Mr Donnelly also said BAM submitted claims coming to €760m which the board is contesting, with just over €12m paid out.
Ms Murphy said “it is clear that the final cost of the hospital is going to come in well above the Government’s figure of €1.4bn”.
“With costs expected to soar above the €2bn mark, this will end up being the world’s most expensive hospital," she added.
Meanwhile, Dr Paul Davis, assistant professor of management at Dublin City University, said the contractor is legally entitled to make claims because the design was not complete when the project went to tender.
“Given that we didn't have a design in the first place when we actually went out to contract, there were going to be changes to the design,” he told RTÉ’s Claire Byrne.
“So what we have is €760m of claims based on the design that wasn't there. So it's understandable that that has escalated over the years.”
The original agreement was additional costs covered to 7% above inflation, he said, but at times the building’s inflation had been in excess of 20%.
Mr Donnelly had highlighted the combined effects of the war in Ukraine and the pandemic as key factors in the escalating construction costs.
Dr Davis said in 2019 PWC had raised questions about the project management skills dedicated to the build.
“There's still a further probably 18 months before we actually see the first child admitted at this stage,” he estimated.
“Had it been within a couple of months, then we probably would have expected the board to have approved it (completion date). But given that it probably is not within a couple of months of May next year, nobody really wants to announce the date, I suspect, because there's an election due next year.”
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