The new national children’s hospital (NCH) is a “never-ending saga”, with deadlines becoming “moving targets”, Opposition politicians have said after it emerged the completion of the project has been delayed again until at least September.
On Saturday, The Irish Times reported the substantial completion of the healthcare facility has been delayed again until at least September, with patients now not expected to be treated at the facility until June 2026 at the earliest.
In September last, the contractor pledged the new substantial completion date for the hospital would be June 2025 – the 14th such date issued by the builder.
However, it has now emerged this date will not be met. The national paediatric hospital development board (NPHDB), the body overseeing the project, is due to appear before politicians to update them on the hospital on Thursday.
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Sinn Féin’s health spokesman David Cullinane described the children’s hospital as a “never-ending saga” that is “making a mockery” out of the taxpayer.
“What we have is the board saying the contractor is not deploying enough human resources; the company is pointing the finger at the board. All of this has to come to a stop eventually,” said Mr Cullinane.
“We need to know why there’s been a further delay. We were told the most recent completion date [June] would be met, and now we hear it won’t. I think the opening [to patients] of summer next year is widely optimistic. It’s been delayed, delayed, delayed.”
Mr Cullinane said it was an “absolute shambles” to have “completion date after completion date come and go”.
“Children who should have been treated in the hospital by 2022, now won’t be seen until the middle of 2026,” he added.
Labour health spokeswoman Marie Sherlock said the delay is “extremely frustrating” but “not entirely unexpected”.
“The question we would have now is around cost and what impact this will have on activity for the three hospitals. Ultimately, it is very frustrating and even with the handover in September, that is still a very tight turnaround for the commissioning period,” she added.
Social Democrats health spokesman Pádraig Rice said the hospital has to be “one of the most botched capital projects in the history of the State”.
“Where is the political leadership? How many more delays before there is political accountability? How can we have any confidence that children will be treated in the hospital by June 2026?” he asked.
“Deadlines have become little more than moving targets,” he added before calling on Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to update the Dáil next week on the latest delay.
Building on the site at St James’s Hospital in Dublin began in 2016 after years of disagreement over the location of the hospital.
The following eight years were marked by ballooning cost – from €987 million to €2.2 billion, with repeated delays exacerbated by an increasingly fractious relationship between the builders, BAM, and the NPHDB.
Asked about further delays, a spokeswoman for the NPHDB said work towards substantial completion is “continuing and approaching the final stages”.
“A key focus currently relates to the completion of all rooms and spaces within the hospital to the standard required by the contract, ie, snag free,” she said.
“This process is advancing. In addition, the technical commissioning is being undertaken and will continue until substantial completion.”
A BAM spokesman said: “The NCH project is at a very advanced stage and is well through the technical commissioning process. BAM is working closely with the NPHDB and CHI [Children’s Health Ireland] to ensure early access for CHI.”
