The Public Accounts Committee has been told that there is still no confirmed timeline for completing the National Children’s Hospital, with thousands of defects yet to be addressed.
The project was initially due for completion in August 2022, but costs have surged from an estimated €650 million to around €2.2 billion, reports RTE.
The hospital’s development board also informed the committee that more than €5 million has been spent on legal fees over the past 12 years.
David Gunning, Chief Executive of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), said total general legal costs reached €5.3 million between 2014 and February 2026, reports RTE.
He explained that these expenses arose from resolving, adjudicating, and defending €1 billion worth of claims linked to disputes with main contractor BAM, which was not present at the hearing.
In a statement, BAM pointed to its “strong track record of successfully delivering major hospital projects across Ireland and beyond”, reports RTE.
“The National Children’s Hospital is the largest healthcare investment in the State’s history and what is being described is the normal snagging and commissioning phase required on projects of this scale and complexity,” the statement read, reports RTE.
BAM said that “highly selective data is being used, which is both misleading and fails to show the full picture”, reports RTE.
“For example, of the 5,728 areas/rooms in this hospital, it has been reported that just 3,185 have been completed, ignoring the fact that an additional 1,219 have been offered to the client and are awaiting review.
“The public have seen for themselves in recent weeks through broadcast media coverage that this is a high-quality project in its final stages,”, reports RTE.
The company added that shifting completion timelines were flagged as a major risk as far back as 2019, when PwC identified ongoing design changes as a key challenge.
“Through the contract’s dispute resolution process, the conciliator has already recommended BAM over €140million, along with time extensions of over 300 days. Due to client-instructed design changes, in addition to this, an increase of €53million has been agreed as provisional sums for BAM,”, reports RTE.
BAM concluded by saying it continues to work closely with the NPHDB and Children’s Health Ireland to deliver the hospital safely and as quickly as possible.
Mr Gunning told the committee that the employer’s representative had assessed 3,165 claims worth €819 million and awarded a net €52 million in favour of BAM, reports RTE.
He said “there’s quite a number of claims” still to be processed “of a similar quantum”, with additional issues currently before the High Court, reports RTE.
However, he said that despite ongoing litigation, the board remained confident the project would be delivered within its €1.88 billion share of the budget, with the remaining €361 million to be covered by Children’s Health Ireland (CHI).
CHI transformation director Julia Lewis said that estimate is based on a 2025 completion date and could increase depending on when the building is handed over, reports RTE.
Speaking to the committee, Mr Gunning said he could not provide a new substantial completion date as BAM had yet to submit an updated programme to the employer’s representative.
He said BAM indicated the update would be submitted tomorrow and would then need to be reviewed for compliance, reports RTE.
However, referring to substantial completion, he said: “We are close – it’s months we’re talking about,”, reports RTE.
Mr Gunning said the board believes BAM has not allocated sufficient resources to the project.
“BAM has missed its substantial completion dates. This is primarily due to its failure to deploy sufficient skilled labour and competent management resources to properly supervise the site and maintain effective quality assurance processes,” Mr Gunning said, reports RTE.
“As a result, there has been no consistent, right-first-time approach to delivery, and it has also failed to properly programme, co-ordinate and sequence the works in a logical and efficient manner,”, reports RTE.
BAM maintains that it has adequately resourced the project and says the development timeline has changed due to “instructed design changes” and “additional scope”, with revised completion dates reflecting these factors rather than any performance shortcomings.
However, the development board’s Project Director Phelim Devine said design issues are not delaying progress, instead pointing to “rework and closing out defects”, reports RTE.
He told the committee there had been no design changes in 2026 affecting on-site construction and said there has been “no material change to design and functionality” since 2019, reports RTE.
“If you go back nine months, it’s 58 issues in 58 rooms. If you go back 18 months, it’s I think, 200 issues in about 200 rooms,”, reports RTE.
“And I’m going to give you an idea what they are, they’re very simple issues. It’s moving a socket in a room, or it’s actually adding an emergency light,”, reports RTE.
Mr Devine acknowledged that there have been 23,500 reissued drawings, with 6,000 core drawings undergoing revisions.
BAM disputes the assertion that there have been no design changes in 2026, reports RTE.
Following construction, the hospital will also need an estimated seven-month commissioning phase before becoming operational.
Public Accounts Committee member Séamus McGrath said he does not expect the hospital to open in 2026, reports RTE.
He said CHI had “conceded” during committee discussions that the opening is more likely to be in 2027, reports RTE.
Mr McGrath described the situation as “deeply disappointing” and “extremely frustrating”, reports RTE.
He said the board’s legal costs exceeding €5 million since 2014 reflect “significant disputes” that remain “ongoing” between BAM and the board, reports RTE.
Mr McGrath said it is “fair to say” that some settlements will favour the contractor and that the current overall project cost of “about €2.24bn” is “likely to increase” by an “unknown” amount, reports RTE.
He added that the final cost will also depend on when the hospital is completed, “because CHI were quite clear that the longer this goes on, it will cost more.
“They obviously are in preparatory work, they’re trying to recruit appropriate staff, they’re trying to equip the hospital, there is a lot of work being undertaken at their end.
“But if they don’t have a clear date in sight, it obviously has implications for the budget as well,”, reports RTE.
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