Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Question:387. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health the current estimate on the final cost of the new National Children’s Hospital, Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5045/25]
View answerThursday, 6 March 2025
Questions (387)
Written answers
In February 2024, Government approved enhanced capital and current budget sanctions for the New Children’s Hospital (NCH) project and programme, bringing the total approved budget to €2.24 billion.
This includes a capital budget of €1.88 billion for designing, building and equipping the NCH and the two satellite centres. A separate €362 million budget is in place for the programme of integration and transition of services to the NCH from the three existing children’s hospitals, including commissioning, ICT, and the Electronic Health Record system.
The cost for this hospital is a once off cost, that has been spread over a number of years, for a state-of-the-art hospital that will benefit children and young people for decades to come.
The capital budget was revised to primarily address crystallisation of certain costs unknown in 2018, including construction inflation and certain contractual entitlements to the main contractor arising from legitimate change orders. Under the provisions of the public works contract, contractors are entitled to submit claims for the true value of additional works. Equally the employer, in this case the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), is entitled to defend claims it considers to be without merit, in order to protect the public purse.
The contractor, BAM Ireland, has submitted a significant volume and value of claims and the vast majority of these have been addressed by the Employer’s Representative - the independent third party responsible for administering the contract. The overall change in the contract value to-date as a result of claims is approximately €51 million. This is just 5% of the contract value.
The 2024 revised capital budget includes appropriate contingency to address these legitimate claims on a project of this scale and complexity and is safeguarding project and programme delivery to enable the hospital to open as soon as possible and to further protect the interests of the State against contractor claims that are without merit.
The recently published paper on Hospital Construction Costs by the Parliamentary Budget Office, confirms the long-held position of Department of Health, NPHDB, and of Government: the NCH is not the most expensive hospital in world, by any metric.
While the paper notes that costs are above average, this must be considered in the context of a hospital being built for the next 75-100 years, rather than the 40-50 years of other hospitals internationally. It is also being delivered in one of the most expensive cities to build in Europe at present.
The timely completion of the NCH is a Government priority. Everything possible is being done to ensure the project is completed as soon as possible on behalf of children, young people and their families.
The two satellite centres, which represent major milestones in the programme, are open and delivering the new model of care. Construction has advanced to over 95% complete against contract value. The project is now in the construction completion (‘snagging’ and finishing) phase, with the fit out of rooms and installation of fixed medical equipment and integrated building technical commissioning well underway.
While much focus has been on the challenges faced by the project, it is important to note that once open, the NCH will provide world class facilities to its patients. The NCH is unprecedented in scale, facilities, and technological advancement. It will be transformational in how we treat and deliver care to children and their families. The hospital has been designed and constructed to be as enduring and adaptable as possible.