Builders pitching for the contract for the new National Maternity Hospital are understood to have included contingency amounts of about €500 million to cover any rising costs during construction.
The Irish Times reported last month that tenders for the new hospital were coming in at about €1.5 billion but other bills associated with developing and commissioning the facility could push the final price to €2 billion.
Sources said in many cases a significant amount of the tender price is made up of contingency costs. They said the contingency amount is often about €500 million, as building companies fear costs will rise during the project as happened with the new national children’s hospital.
Construction firm Bam has come under strong criticism over escalating costs and delays in completing the new national children’s hospital, which is being developed at St James’s Hospital campus in Dublin.
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The maternity hospital is to be developed on the campus of St Vincent’s hospital at Elm Park in Dublin 4. It will replace the existing and ageing National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street.
The project was first announced by then minister for health James Reilly more than a decade ago, but it has been beset by delays. The project experienced rows over governance, ethos and whether there could be restrictions on the types of services provided to women treated there.
The estimated cost of the new hospital is now running at more than 10 times the amount suggested in 2013.
Tenders for its construction have been examined by an evaluation group in the HSE and were scheduled to be given to a project board.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will have to bring a final business case to Cabinet later this year if the project is to receive final approval.
“The tenders are higher than expected,” a senior individual involved in the project told The Irish Times.
Dr Reilly said in May 2013 that an “indicative sum” of €150 million had been approved for the project. At the time it was forecast that construction would begin in late 2016 and the hospital would be completed in 2018.
Campaigners, including some prominent medical figures, argued it would have a Catholic ethos because of the legacy of religious control of St Vincent’s, which was founded by an order of nuns.
They contended this could prevent certain treatments being made available that are legal in Ireland but not permitted under church rules . But the then government, other staff at Holles Street and authorities at St Vincent’s rejected these suggestions. Ultimately a 299-year lease was secured on the site to ensure its operational and clinical independence.
Cost estimates for the project have increased significantly. In February 2017 the HSE projected it would cost €296 million. In June 2021 the Department of Health said cost estimates had risen to about €800 million, including €300 million for commissioning and transferring services from Holles Street.
