‘Let’s ask BAM’ when children’s hospital will be complete, says health minister

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said the onus should be on BAM to explain any further delays to the timeline for the new National Children’s Hospital.

The project had an original completion date of August 2022 but has faced a series of delays and costs have ballooned from a planned €650 million to an expected €2.2 billion.

After the completion of construction by main contractor BAM, the hospital will also require a commission period of between six and nine months – to install healthcare machines, for example – before it becomes operational.

Last week, Ms Carroll MacNeill said BAM’s claims that “large areas of the hospital have been completed since early July” were “not credible”.

She said the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) said many rooms still have open snags and only around 800 are satisfactory, which represents less than 15 per cent of all rooms in the hospital.

She also said her biggest concern is that there were half the number of contractors on site compared to the end of last year.

BAM said the project was more than 99 per cent complete and that because of the “specialist nature” of the work at this late stage of the project, it was “entirely normal” that there were fewer people on site.

Speaking at the National Integrated Healthcare Conference in Dublin on Thursday, Ms Carroll MacNeill said it should not be difficult for BAM to get more contractors on site to finish the project in a “logical and sequential way”.

Asked when the hospital can be expected to be ready by, Ms Carroll MacNeill said: “Do you know what I think the onus should be actually on? Let’s ask BAM.

“Because you know, I’m not going to give a date that moves the dial for anybody, they have made commitments to the Irish state. It’s up to them to make sure that they deliver it.

“My expectation is that they should meet their commitments and if they don’t meet their commitments, then they should explain that to you. I think it’s very reasonable.”

She added: “What I would very much like is to have the hospital now from BAM.

“As they say it is 99 per cent complete, so it really shouldn’t be a difficulty for them to get enough contractors on site to finish it out in a logical and sequential way that enables us the early access that we need to be able to put things like beds in it, to be able to start testing labs, to be able to do all of the work that we need to do to commission a hospital of that size.

“Bernard (Gloster) and I met with CHI the week before last, and we’re meeting them again on Tuesday to see what the CHI preparation is, there’s an enormous amount of work done, there is also an enormous amount of work yet to do.

“But a big part of that is being able to physically get access to the hospital, and it really is imperative that BAM make sure that they’re taking every step that is within their power to take, and to make sure that they (meet) the commitments that they have made to the Irish state.

“I think this is a massive thing for them, reputationally, both domestically and more globally.

“I think it’s really important that the Irish Government articulate that on behalf of the Irish state, on behalf of the Irish taxpayer, who entered into an agreement, who had made money available to BAM, gone into contractual commitments, and need to make sure that that’s delivered on behalf of the Irish state.”