3927. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current total sanctioned and projected final cost of the National Children's Hospital; the amount expended to date; the total value of contractor claims currently being defended; the current projected date for the admission of first patients; the number of occasions on which the completion or opening date has been revised since 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63637/26]

Opening the National Children’s Hospital Ireland (NCHI) is a Government priority. Everything possible is being done to ensure this world-class hospital will open as quickly as possible, on behalf of children, young people, and their families.

I have been clear that the responsibility for committing to, resourcing, and delivering this project sits squarely with the project’s main contractor, BAM Ireland. The State will not reduce the pressure or dilute that accountability.

Ultimately, realising substantial completion is dependent on BAM’s execution and delivery of its own programme. BAM has shifted its Substantial Completion date 20 times over the last 6 years. On 13 July, BAM issued an updated programme to the Employer’s Representative (ER- independent third party responsible for administering the contract). The ER subsequently wrote to BAM for further detail to inform that review. That updated programme is still awaited from BAM.

The main cause of delay on the project has been BAM’s continuous failure to adequately manage and resource the project, and maintain effective quality assurance processes in the delivery of the works.

The current capital budget, which was approved by Government in February 2024, is €1.88 billion. This includes construction of the main hospital at St James’s Hospital campus and the CHI Urgent Care Centre in Blanchardstown and the CHI Outpatient and Emergency Care Unit in Tallaght, which are both operational. The Capital Project spend to date is €1.6 Billion out of €1.88 Billion. The revised budget includes the appropriate contingency to address legitimate claims on a project of this scale & complexity.

A further c.€360m budget is in place for the Children’s Hospital Programme – €95m of which is for the new Electronic Healthcare Record system.

BAM has submitted substantiated claims of c.€983m, which includes duplication and triplication of claims and time. Of these claims, the ER has determined c.€826m worth of those claims at c.€53m, just 6% of BAM’s claimed value. There is a big gap between what has been sought by BAM and what has actually been awarded. The NPHDB is robustly defending all claims considered without merit to protect the interests of the State, at every stage of the dispute management process.

Achieving Substantial Completion is essentially a ‘volume exercise' to complete the 5,728 rooms. To date, 4,894 rooms have reached the contract standard (c.85%). While progress is being made, it is not to the pace or standard we should expect. BAM continually misses its room completion targets and is devoting the majority of its resources to correct snags, defects and errors of its own making. It is obvious that BAM needs to increase resources on site to turn that slippage around.

In June, CHI gained early access to Level 1 where the critical care beds are, and this is welcome. However, access to Level 2, where the theatres are, is long overdue. Once Substantial Completion is reached to the required healthcare standard, CHI will begin operational commissioning.

I have worked with CHI and the HSE to reduce the operational commissioning timeline from 9 months to 7 months, but this is contingent on BAM providing meaningful early access. BAM’s performance directly determines the hospital’s opening timeline. What is needed now from BAM is certainty, adequate resourcing, and real productivity to complete the job.