One of the largest construction companies in the United States was asked for its advice on the State’s national children’s hospital.
The Gilbane Building Company, founded by Famine-era emigrants from Co Leitrim, is one of the largest developers of healthcare facilities in the United States. It remains family owned to this day.
The hospital has been beset by delays, escalating costs and disputes between the contractors and hospital board for years.
Mr Gilbane said he had previously advised the Government on dealing with the numerous issues that have arisen between the contractor and the hospital board.
RM Block
The latest estimate is that the budget will be €2.24 billion and it is not due to open until June next year at the earliest.
Mr Gilbane said: “The hospital was under construction and having problems. I am removed from the politics, from any decision making. And I have no champions within the system.
[ National children’s hospital builder completes only 60% of progressOpens in new window ]
“My goal would be to align the owners’ interests and the contractors’ interests and the architects’ interests in a three-legged stool.
“The contractor has to be clearly accountable for the costs by defining the scope of the job so that the design reflects the cost that is guaranteed by the contractor.
[ National children’s hospital builder completes only 60% of progressOpens in new window ]
“The contractual relationship encourages that teamwork and ensures the method to keep it on track have been established as best practices and ways to go.”
Gilbane Construction employs 3,300 people and had annual revenues in 2024 of $7.7 billion (€6.6 billion). It is based almost exclusively in the United States, but did build the Kerry Group’s Global Technology and Innovation Centre in Naas 10 years ago.
He said the company would like to do more business in Ireland, but “some of the methodology with which construction is procured in Ireland is not the way we do business. Nor did we do business for Kerry that way.
“Unfortunately, in Ireland, some of the quantity surveying delivery ends up in litigation.
“I’m going to be meeting with some of the trade contractors we worked with then and I’m anxious to hear if things have changed.”
A public row broke out in August between Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and main contractor Bam Ireland.
Tensions have been growing between the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) and Bam for some years.
The Minister expressed frustration at the pace of progress, criticising the number of staff on site and the amount of money drawn down. Bam described the work as “more than 99 per cent complete” in a statement at the time.
According to the Minister’s statement, the NPHDB has said “many of these offered rooms still have open snags” and that “in reality only 800 of these rooms are satisfactory”.
Meanwhile, Mr Gilbane said he would favour locating an international headquarters for Gilbane Construction in Ireland, but that would be a decision for the board.
“The contractors in Ireland are as skilled and as competent as anywhere you will find,” he said.
“The view of Ireland in the United States is very positive as witnessed by all the American companies based in the country. I don’t believe Trump will upset this. The EU has been very helpful in dealing with the United States and Trump.”
Some 33 fifth- and sixth-generation members of the Gilbane family have met in Co Leitrim this weekend to celebrate the family’s ancestry.
