Mr Donnelly was appearing before the Oireachtas Health Committee giving an update on the delayed €2.2bn hospital, which was due to be ready in March but has now been put back to June.
He said that after a meeting with Royal BAM, the parent company of BAM Ireland, he was more hopeful the new June deadline would be met, although a compliance plan, setting out how it will be achieved, has yet to be agreed with the board overseeing the project.
Mr Donnelly said one of the positives from the meeting was that BAM agreed that commissioning of the hospital – making it patient-ready – could begin before construction finishes and this will help speed up its final opening.
Asked by Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart about a discrepancy mentioned at a previous meeting by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) around the costs of changing grilles, the minister said the work was completed in a number of weeks for under €200,000 and not €25m.
“It is worth saying that, mistakenly or not, BAM still issued an invoice to the State for the full €25m, although it may have been an administrative error on their part,” Mr Donnelly said.
Asked to comment on the minister’s reference to the €25m cost of work on the grilles, a spokesman for BAM said today: “Under the terms of the contract, BAM was required to submit a claim for the scope of work as originally requested by the NPHDB.
“This scope was significantly larger and more invasive than was ultimately required, and BAM and its supply chain played a critical role in developing a more straightforward redesign which could be delivered at a fraction of the initially anticipated cost.
“The minister incorrectly claims these works were not completed by BAM. They were, and BAM is not seeking payment for this additional work beyond the material costs already incurred.”
Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall asked whether additional workers would be placed on the site and if this would add to costs, to which Mr Donnelly replied: “We have been very clear with BAM that the Government is not putting more money on the table.
“We’ve made it very clear that’s the end of the funding. With regard to the number of staff, we’d refute the position that says they get paid more if they fully staff the site.”
Asked whether 2026 is now the likely opening date, Mr Donnelly said it would be necessary to be “laser-focused”, and allowing the commissioning of the hospital to proceed before construction was fully finished could mean it would be ready at the end of 2025. However, he conceded that due to winter health pressures children might not be treated there at that time.
Chair of the NPHDB Fiona Ross told the committee that BAM had now submitted an updated compliance plan that aimed to set out how the June deadline would be met but it was still being scrutinised.
“We are at the stage of reviewing the plan,” she added.
In response to the Oireachtas Health Commitee, BAM said it welcomed the recent forthright and robust engagement with Mr Donnelly and officials.
“We have continuously stated our belief that the best way to deliver the completed National Children’s Hospital as quickly and efficiently as possible is for all parties to work together collaboratively,” a spokesperson said.
“As the Minister outlined today at the Health Committee, BAM has committed to meeting the substantive completion date of June 2025 subject to no further substantive design changes instructed by the NPHDB. This is a critical condition to ensuring our latest programme can be agreed and delivered.”
It said the claim no substantive change was instructed since 2019 is not supported by the evidence. It said 24,000 new drawings and documents from the client as well as very significant monetary awards and time extensions granted to BAM indicate the level of change.
“BAM is also clear in its commitment to, as it has throughout this unique project, provide all necessary manpower to meet this date,” BAM said.
The amount of construction work remaining to be completed is decreasing every day, BAM added.