![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/55613972-eb64-49c4-a465-7b74cffdbf84.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRobots to deliver meals in new children\u2019s hospital \u2013 but half of rooms still not readyCompletion has been delayed 18 times and for 40 months\n<\/p>\n
David Gunning of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board told the committee this morning, and a new date has not yet been set.<\/p>\n
T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris said that it was a \u201cwelcome change\u201d in the delivery of the National Children\u2019s Hospital to get \u201cearly access\u201d to certain floors to get fitted.<\/p>\n
When asked if it\u2019s unlikely that patients will be treated in the hospital in 2026, Mr Harris said: \u201cI don’t think we should in any way remove the pressure from those who have the responsibility for completing this hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not willing to release or relieve the pressure in any way, shape or form, on the contractor that has a responsibility for delivering that hospital, but we are within touching distance now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to make sure that every day that pressure is maintained to get this hospital completed, because it is going to make a transformational difference in terms of children’s healthcare in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the Minister for Health shares his view, \u201cwe need every single day to see progress made in relation to this hospital,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly access is now being provided. I think the phrase early access is a little ironic, but that access is being provided to rooms and floors as we progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think about it, generally, you’d have a hospital completed, then a significant commissioning period of time after the completion. So while any further wait for the hospital is not desirable, I do want to reassure people that, from briefings I’ve had with both the Minister for Health and the HSE, that there is now commissioning work going on in the hospital in real time.<\/p>\n
“I think that will make a very practical difference, that in many ways, will enable the hospital to actually be handed over and start seeing patients in a quicker way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Oireachtas health committee will hear today that robots will deliver meals to children when the new \u20ac2.2bn national children\u2019s hospital is fully functioning \u2013 but just 2,854 of its 5,728 rooms have so far been given the green light.<\/p>\n
Early access is still only granted to just three of the seven levels.<\/p>\n
The committee will hear more updates from David Gunning, chief officer of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, who says the completion has been delayed 18 times and for 40 months.<\/p>\n
Children\u2019s Health Ireland (CHI) chief executive Lucy Nugent hopes to open the hospital around \u201cseven months after we receive the keys\u201d and points to its potential as a space \u201cwhere robots quietly glide down hallways delivering meals and supplies\u201d.<\/p>\n
Just 2,854 of the 5,728 rooms have been validated as meeting the contract standard<\/p>\n
In his update, Mr Gunning will also say as of December 19, the contractors BAM provided partial access, allowing operational commissioning works on level six, which is now complete.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn February 24 and March 6, BAM provided early access to the lower ground level 0,\u201d Mr Gunning will say.\u200b<\/p>\n
\u201cThe works completed on these three levels to date comprise clinical cleaning and the delivery, installation, and commissioning of over 5,500 pieces of medical, non-medical, and ICT equipment,\u201d the health committee will hear.<\/p>\n
However, the development board is waiting for access to level one and two \u2013 which feature operating theatres and critical care departments \u2013 crucial to meeting the seven-month commissioning timeline.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The much-delayed National Children’s Hospital. Photo: Collins<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds, Wednesday March 25<\/p>\n
BAM should be now delivering in excess of 400 rooms weekly. As of March 20, some 3,726 of the 5,728 rooms have been offered by BAM to the design team to validate.<\/p>\n
However, as of that date, just 2,854 of the 5,728 rooms have been validated as meeting the contract standard, according to Mr Gunning.<\/p>\n
A meeting was held in Dublin earlier this month with BAM\u2019s board chair, Ruud Joosten, to receive assurances that it will meet the end of April timeline.<\/p>\n
Based on BAM\u2019s delays, the hospital board will deduct liquidated damages of more than \u20ac40m<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the meeting, BAM committed to provide a resource-loaded close-out plan\u201d to meet the timeline, the committee will hear.<\/p>\n
Based on BAM\u2019s delays, the hospital board will deduct liquidated damages of more than \u20ac40m.<\/p>\n
By the end of February, 3,505 claims were made by BAM, 3,388 of which it valued at \u20ac899.6m. However, when 3,141 of the claims were independently assessed, the value was put at \u20ac53.16m.<\/p>\n
In her address, Ms Nugent will say the waiting time for spinal surgery is now an average of 4.2 months, down from 5.9 months in December 2024.<\/p>\n
The average waiting time for an outpatient appointment was 9.7 months in December 2024, but has dropped to 3.9 months.<\/p>\n
Ronald McDonald House is complete and will provide accommodation for 52 families of young patients each night \u2013 more than double that of the current building in Crumlin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robots to deliver meals in new children\u2019s hospital \u2013 but half of rooms still not readyCompletion has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[3414,4593,103,397,396,61,60,29096],"class_list":["post-364323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-department-of-health","tag-eilish-oregan","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-national-childrens-hospital"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}