THE SECRETARY GENERAL of the Department of Health has said that the contractor of the National Children’s Hospital has given a “commitment” to reach completion “by the end of August”.
However, the official noted that the completion date offered by contractors BAM has “slipped 19 times to date” and that “if we’re judging past performance as an indicator of future performance, we all draw our own conclusion”.
The serially-delayed project had an original completion date of August 2022, while costs have ballooned from a planned €650 million to an expected €2.2 billion.
Derek Tierney was recently appointed Secretary General of the Department of Health and this morning appeared before the Oireachtas health committee.
Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane asked Tierney if there had been improvements with BAM in relation to performance.
Tierney said the department and health minister met with BAM in March on the need to increase resources.
However, Tierney said “those resources haven’t increased in any tangible way”.
He added that “we see completion dates extending”.
When asked by Cullinane about the performance of BAM, Tierney replied:
“Clearly, what’s very demonstrable is that the contractor’s programme has slipped 19 times to date.
“The contractor has given a commitment to reach completion by the end of August.
“We’ll wait to see; if we’re judging past performance as an indicator of future performance, we all draw our own conclusions.”
Tierney added that the Department has “pushed to get access to the Hot Block”.
This area includes the emergency department, imaging and diagnostics, laboratories and clinical engineering at lower ground and ground level, and the critical care and operating theatres at levels one and two.
Tierney added that it “is a fully fitted hospital at this stage”.
“Clearly, we’d all like to see patients getting in and I’d be hopeful we get access to level two by the end of the month, but again, we’ll wait on it.”
In a statement, BAM said it “continues to work closely with the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board and Children’s Health Ireland to deliver the hospital as quickly and safely as possible for the children of Ireland”.
It’s understood that it will take several months for the full handover of the hospital to take place after the substantial completion, with commissioning works such as staff training, trial runs, and stock of consumables numbering several hundred thousand items required.