Just 27 rooms at National Children’s Hospital finished out of 3,000, committee hears

The cost of the National Children’s Hospital could surpass €2 billion according to a detailed breakdown of figures presented to an Oireachtas committee, while just 27 rooms have been completed out of an expected 3,000.

A definitive completion date for the project is expected to be contained in a report from contractor BAM next week, following ongoing delays and cost overruns, the committee heard.

BAM’s most recent progress report, issued in April, said the substantial completion date would be May 2024, 21 months beyond the original contracted completion date.

In often tense exchanges at Wednesday’s Oireachtas Health Committee, David Gunning, head of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board which oversees the project, said the delivery of the “contract compliant programme” was critical, and described its delay as “unacceptable”.

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Mr Gunning declined to outline updated funding requests the board has submitted to the Health Service Executive (HSE).

To date, expenditure on the NCH has reached €1.325 billion, of an authorised capital spend stretching to €1.433 billion. BAM has submitted approximately €750 million in cost claims which threatens to escalate the cost to almost €2.2 billion.

Inflation and other factors delaying the build have continued to provoke tensions, with the board noting the contractor has not yet provided progress updates for March, April, May and June of this year.

The committee was appraised of slow progress on room completions, with just 27 rooms of an anticipated 3,000 now deemed complete.

“We have been saying to BAM our biggest problem is we can’t come in here and tell this committee when this hospital is going to be finished,” Mr Gunning said. “They control all the resources, they control the programme; that’s their responsibility to tell us and we can then tell you.”

However, under questioning from Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall, Mr Gunning conceded that penalties had only been applied to the contractor since last month, for the first time in two years. In his opening remarks, Mr Gunning said the board had withheld 15 per cent of payments for completed work due to the contractor failing to meet its contractual obligations.

“It’s very hard to see where progress has been made or this project has been reined in in any way,” Ms Shortall said since members of the board appeared last October. “I’m sensing the same kind of attitude here this morning where in a very casual way you’re saying ‘oh yes, of course, it will take longer and it will cost more’, but you’re not providing any specifics to us.”

Under questioning from Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane, Mr Gunning confirmed he had sought additional capital from the HSE beyond the €1.433 billion allocation, but refused to reveal how much, citing procedural grounds.

Pressed later on a financial worst-case scenario by Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway, Mr Gunning again refused to divulge any detail on cost requests, saying it would contain a contingency sum the board felt would “see this project completed”.

“I am not giving you a figure … we have said a number of times today, we’re not providing those numbers.”

BAM has stressed it is only the building contractor. In a statement issued after the hearing, it rejected any allegation of under-performance or under-resourcing.

“Any suggestion that BAM is deliberately not committing adequate resources to the project or is in any way slowing down delivery of the hospital is untrue,” it said.

The contractor said design revisions had been “numerous, ongoing and challenging”, adding to the scope of its work and said the 600 rooms it has given over for inspection to date is in line with the number indicated in its most recent progress update.

“BAM is obliged under the terms of the contract to raise any variation, including instructions, with a time or cost implication as a ‘claim’,” it said. “We are fully committed to delivering this world-class hospital for the children of Ireland within the shortest possible timeframe.”

Last month it emerged BAM had been told to stop work on 11 operating theatres. At Wednesday’s committee, Mr Cullinane sought confirmation that inspections had been carried out by consultants in May 2022 uncovering potential problems with air circulation.

The following October, a second inspection was carried out and a subsequent report stated progress was disappointing and none of the issues had been addressed, and it described indications of “major generic faults”.

Project director Phelim Devine said independent experts were brought in to examine various aspects of the build in a bid to head off any problems. However, on this issue he said there was a difference of opinion between the external experts and the hospital design team, and workshops were established to resolve the issue.