THE BOARD OVERSEEING the development of the National Children’s Hospital is set to accuse BAM, the construction company behind the project, of having a “complete disregard for sick children”, The Journal understands.
The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) will update TDs and Senators in the Health Committee tomorrow on the status of the delayed and over budget project and will make an excoriating submission about the building firm.
In its submission, Chief Officer David Gunning will confirm that the board is to withhold 15% of certified payments to BAM, for a second time, as it believes the company has not fulfilled its contractual obligations.
It’s understood that Gunning will add that it is the view of the board that BAM is “seeking to implement a strategy to exert pressure on the State to secure additional monies above the contract sum, by whatever means”.
The National Children’s Hospital, which is now years overdue, has cost the state €2.2 billion to date. It had previously been marked for completion in 2020 with a budget of €650 million.
In a letter last week to Taoiseach Simon Harris, the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said it is the view of the project’s board that BAM was approaching the project on the basis of “extracting as much money from the Irish taxpayer as possible”.
BAM on Sunday said that it had reviewed the contents of Donnelly’s letter to the Taoiseach and “rejects in the strongest terms the misleading, ill-informed and incorrect allegations levelled against it”.
In a renewed statement to The Journal today, the company reiterated its rejection of the statements made by Donnelly in his letter to the Taoiseach.
A spokesman added that it “goes without saying that we reject the suggestion that BAM is showing a ‘complete disregard for sick children’ in the strongest possible terms”.
Gunning will tomorrow make an excoriating submission about BAM at the Oireachtas Health Committee, accusing the firm as being the main cause behind the delays and issues with the project.
Gunning will tell TDs and Senators that BAM’s “continued failure to provide a compliant Baseline Programme” has resulted in the deadline for the project being changed 14 times in the last four years – with four of those changes taking place in the last 12 months.
He will add that BAM’s current estimate for substantial completion is June 2025 but that the board will reject this without this commitment in writing.
The “biggest factors” for the delays, according to Gunning, include BAM’s “continued insistence on offering rooms and areas within the hospital as complete when they are still incomplete, BAM’s continued failure to manage the project execution and BAM’s continued unwillingness to resource the project appropriately”.
BAM has told The Journal that the project is currently 93% complete and that the project has “always been fully resourced”.
It claims that the project is also, currently, resources approximately 50% above the level that was anticipated for this late stage, “given the design changes that have occurred”.
A spokesman said that the project has been delayed because of requests made by customer to make changes to the original plans as well as the impacts on the construction industry as a result of the Covid pandemic.
He added: “BAM is highly confident that once the standing conciliator has had the opportunity to review the remainder of the delay, its findings will be consistent with its decisions to date.
However, Gunning tomorrow will tell politicians that the delays to the project “shows a complete disregard for internationally recognised professional processes and contractual procedures”.
He will add:
“The approach being taken by BAM also shows complete disregard for sick children and young people and their families – as well as the dedicated and excellent staff in Children’s Health Ireland.
The NPHDB will also confirm that “not one” of the 3,128 rooms that BAM has offered to complete have been fully furnished to the standard and finish as per the contact that it was awarded.
On Sunday, BAM rejected a similar assertion in the letter to the Taoiseach that the 3,124 rooms they had offered as complete were not at the “acceptable standard”, saying: “BAM is fully confident in the quality of the construction work for this world class hospital.
“The handover of rooms and de-snagging of minor issues is a routine element of the project which has clearly been affected by the level of client-instructed change.
“This is a process, not a one-off event, and rooms are never presented as final until the completed building is handed over to the customer,” the company said.
It is understood that Gunning will say that the board believes that the firm has “failed” to provide sufficient resources to the project and that BAM continues to submit “large volumes” of claims, some of which have been duplicated and triplicated.
It is further understood that the NPHDB will protect the public purse strings by scrutinising these claims and withholding any future funds from BAM.
“Regardless of how many times BAM asks, BAM will not be given another cent beyond what it is entitled to under contract,” Gunning will say.
The construction project has been marred in controversy over the continuous delays and ever-increasing bill.
BAM has long-rejected criticisms by politicians and other stakeholders that it is seeking to extract large portions of taxpayer funds from the project.
Speaking in the Dáil earlier today, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the project had “descended into complete farce” and accused the Government of “incompetence”.
McDonald said: “Who signs a contract for anything, let alone a hospital, without any idea of what the final cost will be or when the job will be finished? The answer to that question is Simon Harris.”
The Government has already said it will be refusing to provide additional funding after it handed over another half-a-billion euro to the project earlier this year.
Yesterday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that he would support measures to change EU procurement procedures so that “past performances” of a company are included as a factor when awarding public contracts to firms in the future.
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