The contractor of the National Children’s Hospital (NCH), BAM, could miss its 19th deadline for completion
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD.(Image: Sam Boal/Collins Photos)
There isn’t enough staff working on the new children’s hospital to meet its looming deadline of April 30, the Health Minister has said.
The contractor of the National Children’s Hospital (NCH), BAM, could miss its 19th deadline for completion. Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she is meeting with the company’s global CEO so he can explain why so few people are working on the site, and how they are going to meet their own deadline of April 30.
Minister Carroll MacNeill said she has been at the site at St James’ a couple of times over the past few weeks, and she has been disappointed. Speaking at the launch of the Government’s AI Care strategy for healthcare, she said: “On every occasion that I’ve been there, I have not seen the number of people working there that I believe should be to meet the April 30 deadline.”
The Health Minister said she is not satisfied with the number of rooms that are being completed on a weekly basis. She continued: “Over a four week average it’s about 167 a week. There was one week there in February where it was up to 360 but then dropped to 116 the following week.
22/05/’25 The National Children’s Hospital on the ground of St. James’ Hospital, Rialtopictured this morning.. The hospital has again been delayed in its opening date(Image: Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin.)
“So it’s becoming cumulatively worse relative to where it should be in terms of room completions.” Minister Carroll MacNeill said she was “disappointed” that “hundreds and hundreds” of people weren’t working on the ground floor, which is the emergency department.
When she pointed this out to BAM, the Minister said the construction company informed her that the workers were in the basement- so she went to check. She continued: “I went down to the basement, and it was enormously large, like an enormously empty car park.
“I counted 16 people, and two of them were working. I’m just not satisfied with what I see the times that I’m there. My dissatisfaction is not just visual and anecdotal, it’s one that’s backed up by the tracked figures by the hospital development board of the number of people who are there and productively working.”
ICU inside the New National Children’s Hospital in Dublin(Image: Q4PR)
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.
A spokesperson for BAM said: “The National Children’s Hospital project is now in the final stages of completion and commissioning. Work is taking place simultaneously across several areas of the building, including highly technical and clinical areas that require specialist commissioning work.
“The project continues to be resourced to support the work currently underway, with specialist teams continuing to complete the remaining programme.
“BAM continues to work closely with the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board and CHI to deliver the hospital as quickly and safely as possible for the children of Ireland.”
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