{"id":630945,"date":"2026-09-21T00:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T00:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/630945\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T00:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T00:50:13","slug":"as-a-result-of-persistent-quality-shortcomings-100-per-cent-of-rooms-and-other-key-elements-are-now-being-inspected-problems-at-new-childrens-hospital-keep-mounting-but-this-one-alarming-failur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/630945\/","title":{"rendered":"‘As a result of persistent quality shortcomings, 100 per cent of rooms and other key elements are now being inspected’: Problems at new children’s hospital keep mounting – but this one alarming failure WILL see its finish date pushed back AGAIN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Members of the public spending watchdog Public Accounts Committee are to \u2018interrogate\u2019 the HSE later this week about the failure of the \u20ac2billion plus new National Children\u2019s Hospital to meet stringent fire regulations.<\/p>\n

It has also emerged that so much defective work has been uncovered at the 380-bed health facility, that the board overseeing the project has had to employ experts to do five times the number of inspections than is usual.<\/p>\n

More worryingly still, the yet-to-be-opened \u2018world class\u2019 hospital, has yet to secure a final sign-off on a fire safety certificate nine years after it was first issued back in 2017.<\/p>\n

These revelations come as HSE officials are due to appear before the PAC on Thursday amid growing speculation that the hospital \u2013 plagued with cost overruns and delays \u2013 will miss its 20th opening deadline of next month.<\/p>\n

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill had cast doubt on the latest deadline being met during an interview with RT\u00c9\u2019s Prime Time in April, when she noted: \u2018We do have a timeline. But, you know, is it going to be met? If you\u2019ve experienced something 19 times, do you expect it to be different on the 20th?\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Health <\/p>\n

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill cast doubt on the latest deadline being met during an interview with RT\u00c9\u2019s Prime Time in April<\/p>\n

Originally due to cost \u20ac650 million with an opening date of 2022, the costs have multiplied to \u20ac2.24 billion. But with the full costs yet to be agreed the final figure could be much higher.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A senior source admitted last night there is now \u2018significant concern\u2019 that a fire cert for the new complex will not be granted in the near future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The complex cannot open and accept patients until there is a final sign-off on a fire certificate and this has yet to be secured.<\/p>\n

\"Members <\/p>\n

Members of the public spending watchdog Public Accounts Committee are to \u2018interrogate\u2019 the HSE later this week about the failure of the \u20ac2billion plus new National Children\u2019s Hospital to meet stringent fire regulation<\/p>\n

The CHI official revealed: \u2018There are issues, major issues with the fire cert. In those circumstances, I can\u2019t see us getting a date for entry to the hospital anytime soon. That\u2019s what we\u2019re being told.\u2019<\/p>\n

A second CHI official speaking on condition of anonymity explained: \u2018All the talk now is about the fire cert and whether the buildings will get the cert. A lot of work still has to be done.\u2019<\/p>\n

Another source familiar with the building that has become the world\u2019s most expensive children\u2019s\u2019 health facility added: \u2018The talk now is that there are problems with getting a final fire certificate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘You cannot have a building where there is a fire certificate for one part and then another part of the building that doesn\u2019t have a fire certificate.<\/p>\n

They added: \u2018A fire safety certificate would have been applied for in 2017 and as work progresses various issues are highlighted and dealt with. But you cannot get a final sign off on the fire safety certificate until all problems highlighted are dealt with.\u2019<\/p>\n

The hospital has been plagued by so many problems insiders have told the MoS several demoralised staff have already decided to leave rather than continue working on what was once billed as a \u2018world class\u2019 project.<\/p>\n

A staff member explained: \u2018If there was a prize for an organisation who had the most early retirements, this project would get it. There are very few left who were there at the start. The morale is so bad.\u2019<\/p>\n

The hospital is being built by construction firm BAM and when completed it will be run by Children\u2019s\u2019 Health Ireland. Meanwhile, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board is overseeing the project.<\/p>\n

And this weekend the NPHDB said there was \u2018a range of issues\u2019 not just limited to fire safety, and some work was so sub-standard, five times the number of inspections were needed to ensure the hospital is safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman explained: \u2018The NPHDB has had to significantly increase the size of its site inspection team to provide the necessary level of assurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The hospital is being built by construction firm BAM and when completed it will be run by Children\u2019s\u2019 Health Ireland<\/p>\n

‘This has been required because BAM has not implemented its Quality Management Plan effectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘As a result of persistent quality shortcomings, 100 per cent of rooms and other key elements are now being inspected by the NPHDB\u2019s site inspectorate team, compared with the industry-standard approach of sampling approximately 20 per cent.\u2019<\/p>\n

She continued: \u2018Over the past 15 months, the need for BAM to extensively rework initial installations to meet contractual standards has affected progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Examples include all 316 manual sliding doors requiring remediation, 126 of the 244 bathroom pods requiring floor remediation to ensure proper drainage to outlets, and 11 of the 22 operating theatre floors requiring remediation, three of which had to be redone for a third time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Approximately 40 per cent of the ventilation system was also found to contain dust because BAM carried out rework in rooms without adequate dust-protection measures.\u2019<\/p>\n

She added: \u2018There is a range of issues that need to be remediated; not all are fire-related. Remediation work includes water leaks, fire doors (over 200), bathroom pod floors, theatre floors, ventilation acoustics (more than 200 issues raised), and ductwork cleaning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘These matters are not a fire risk, but rather a compliance matter where BAM has failed to demonstrate compliance and must undertake remedial works to meet the required standards.\u2019<\/p>\n

When asked last night about the amount of defective work on site and whether the most recent opening deadline of October will be met, BAM would only say: \u2018The National Children’s Hospital is the largest healthcare investment in the State\u2019s history and is in the final stages of commissioning and certification.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PAC <\/p>\n

PAC member S\u00e9amus McGrath plans to \u2018interrogate\u2019 senior HSE management about work at the new hospital<\/p>\n

‘BAM continues to work closely with the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board and Childrens\u2019 Health Ireland to deliver the hospital as quickly and safely as possible for the children of Ireland.\u2019<\/p>\n

PAC member S\u00e9amus McGrath vowed to \u2018interrogate\u2019 senior HSE management about work at the new hospital that has failed to comply with building and fire regulations when they appear before the D\u00e1il\u2019s public spending committee on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The Fianna F\u00e1il TD added: \u2018There are many quality and compliance issues still unresolved \u2013 it appears as if there is some distance to go to have all these matters satisfactorily addressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It seems significant remediation work is needed on a range of issues including water leaks, ventilation and fire safety.<\/p>\n

\u2018Obviously, full compliance with building regulations and fire safety standards is an absolute must and therefore the opening date for the hospital seems indeterminable at this time.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the public spending watchdog Public Accounts Committee are to \u2018interrogate\u2019 the HSE later this week about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[539,103,397,396,61,60,149742,43],"class_list":["post-630945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-dailymail","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-m-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630945","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=630945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}