HEALTH
New children's hospital bill to rise further as builder files €90m additional cost claims
Some €481 million worth of costs are still in dispute between the hospital and the main contractor amid criticism of the spiralling price of the project
DONAL MACNAMEE
05:00
National Children’s Hospital: the project, worth more than €1.4 billion, has been dogged by delays and rising costs. Picture: Rollingnews.ie
The main contractor building the new national children’s hospital has now issued claims for additional costs worth €643 million for the project.
New figures provided to the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) show that BAM, the main building contractor on the project, has now issued 1,764 claims to the employers’ representative (ER) – the company that represents the hospital in discussions with BAM.
Of these claims, 1,450 had been substantiated by the ER at the end of November 2022, with a total value of €643.4 million, according to a letter sent to the PAC in December. The ER has made a determination on 1,250 of the claims, which are worth a total of €507.2 million.
The figures show that the value of the claims taken by BAM has increased by nearly €90 million since February last year, when the Irish Times reported that BAM had issued claims worth €544 million.
In public works contracts, contractors are entitled to issue claims for adjustments to the value of a contract seeking additional costs. These claims are decided by the employers’ representative, but the decisions can be disputed by either party in the contract.
David Gunning, the chief officer of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, which is in charge of delivering the children’s hospital, said that of the 1,250 claims determined by the employers’ representative, 1,109 have been disputed by the hospital’s board. The value of the disputed claims was €481 million at the end of November, he said.
If a claim is disputed by either party, it is referred to a project board – a committee featuring representatives from both sides. If the board isn’t able to resolve the dispute, it is referred to conciliation, at which point a conciliator makes a recommendation.
If the parties are still unable to agree on a claim, either can initiate High Court proceedings. Gunning said that two claims have been referred to the High Court so far.
The children’s hospital has been the subject of significant controversy over recent years amid spiralling costs and significant delays.
In October, at a meeting of the cross-party Oireachtas health committee, Gunning said that the cost of the hospital would exceed €1.43 billion, the figure approved by the government in 2018.
Gunning said the total cost may not be known for years due to outstanding legal claims, and said construction was scheduled to be completed by March 2024.