Micheál Martin: Tensions between Children’s Hospital  board and BAM 'no secret' 

The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board said it would be seeking significantly more capital funding from the Government, which will likely push the final cost of the hospital to over €2.2bn.

Ongoing tensions between the board of the new National Children’s Hospital (NCH) and the developer BAM have been no secret, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.

At Leaders’ Questions on Thursday afternoon, Mr Martin refuted he had ever given a date for the hospital opening, despite other Government ministers setting dates for opening, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

“I never gave a date on this. The reason I didn’t give a date on this is because I’m aware of the tensions between the contractor and the hospital development board, which have been there for a good number of years,” Mr Martin said.

“There’s no secret about that.” 

Mr Varadkar told the Dáil on Tuesday the final cost of the NCH was “substantially underestimated” and that the facility may not open until 2025.

Mr Martin’s comments come after the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) said it would be seeking significantly more capital funding from the Government, which will likely push the final cost of the hospital to over €2.2bn.

Tensions

Tensions between the NPHDB and BAM have blown into view in recent days, with the board claiming just 27 of 3,000 rooms have been “deemed complete”. Meanwhile, BAM has rejected these assertions saying that 600 rooms have been offered for inspection.

Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane questioned whether or not the Government would be providing the additional funding to complete the hospital and when it would be completed.

In response, Mr Martin said the NPHDB was challenging claims brought forward by BAM and this was the right thing to do.

“Claims are being made now, but the claims are being challenged every step of the way and that is right. There shouldn’t be compromise on contesting those claims,” Mr Martin said.

“If that means delay, so be it.

You could cut corners, you could say let’s not contest these claims, let's give more to hurry up and accelerate the completion but that game is over.” 

In total, there have been €756m worth of extra claims submitted by BAM, with NPHDB chief executive David Gunning saying these claims would be contested.

Mr Martin said the Government needed to “stick to the process” to prevent leverage being created that would undermine the State in a “mad political rush” to complete the hospital.

He told the Dáil “if claims are being made that are not sustainable”, they must be challenged so the State gets value for money.

As the final Leaders’ Questions of the Dáil session ended on Thursday afternoon, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said tensions were starting to build between the Government and opposition due to the current stage of the electoral cycle.

Mr Ó Fearghaíl said when TDs return to the Dáil in September, he expected to see a higher temperature in debates.