The building company of the new children's hospital has failed to set an updated deadline for its completion, a Public Accounts Committee will hear tomorrow.
It will hear around 75% of the 5,728 rooms have been offered at completion standard by developer BAM.
But there are still 12,414 defects remaining within the complex to be resolved.
Senators and TDs will be told that are 1,415 rooms yet to be offered by the contractor at completion standard.
The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) and Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) will give an update on the hospital and the committee will hear that 1.648 billion has been spent on the hospital.
The NPHD’s Chief Officer will outline issues, including dust in ventilation ducts.
David Gunning will tell TDs and senators: "I think you will all appreciate that we cannot accept critical areas such as theatres where the contractor has not removed the dust and dirt in these ducts".
Mr Gunning will say that BAM had to address "an unprecedented 106,500 defects in the 5,728 rooms" over the past 15 months.
"The NPHDB and CHI have undertaken due diligence studies and considered lessons learnt from other large international and complex hospitals. These reviews have evidenced that unresolved compliance issues can cause operational disruptions and safety risks to patients," he will say.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for BAM told RTÉ News the "National Children’s Hospital is the largest healthcare investment in the State’s history, and what is being described is the normal snagging and commissioning phase required on projects of this scale and complexity".
They said: "Highly selective data is being used, which is both misleading and fails to show the full picture. For example, of the 5,728 areas/rooms in this hospital, it has been reported that just 3,185 have been completed, ignoring the fact that an additional 1,219 have been offered to the client and are awaiting review.
"The public have seen for themselves in recent weeks through broadcast media coverage that this is a high-quality project in its final stages.
"BAM is tied into an ongoing contractual process dealing with design change, extensions of time, contract administration, and the final value of the project.
"Until the design is fully finalised, completion dates will continue to evolve."
The spokesperson said that BAM will continue to work closely with the NPHDB and CHI to "deliver the hospital as quickly and safely as possible for the children of Ireland".
The committee is also expected to hear tomorrow that BAM’s room offer rate has declined in recent months, with an average of 117 rooms offered each week at the completion standard over the last four weeks.
Room checks both time and resource-intensive
The Chief Officer will say that checks on rooms are "more time-intensive and resource-intensive" but are "necessary to protect both CHI and the State’s interests".
He will say that normally compliance inspections check around 10% of rooms in detail and "expanding only if issues are found".
However, 100% of the rooms in this project are being inspected "to ensure the right clinical and regulatory quality and standards".
He will say that on 24 March 2026, "BAM Ireland confirmed to the NPHDB that it would not deliver on its commitment to reach Substantial Completion (SC) of the NCHI by the 30 April 2026, which is approximately 40 months later than the revised contract date of 2 December 2022".
Mr Gunning will add: "Instead, it said it would complete a large majority of the building, but crucially not all of it. This will be the 19th time BAM has changed its own substantial completion date."
Mr Gunning will say BAM missed its completion dates "primarily due to its failure to deploy sufficient skilled labour and competent management resources to properly supervise the site and maintain effective quality assurance processes".
"As a result, there has been no consistent "right-first-time" approach to delivery.
"BAM has also failed to properly programme, coordinate, and sequence the works in a logical and efficient manner. This has led directly to disruptions, inefficiencies, and significant on-site rework." he will say.
The Chief Officer will say the NPHDB and CHI are primarily focused on an area within the building known in hospital planning and design terms as the Hot Block.
This "includes the Emergency Department, Imaging and Diagnostics, Laboratories, Clinical Engineering at Levels LG and Level 0, and the Critical Care and Operating Theatres at L1 and L2," he will say.
Mr Gunning will say "while we were advised to expect Levels 1 and 2 in early March 2026, we now expect BAM to hand over Level 1 and Level 2 in the coming weeks".
He will say that these areas are close to completion standard "but the contractor is continuing to resolve commissioning issues and rework areas that were not correct the first time".
The CEO of Children’s Health Ireland, Lucy Nugent will say 15% of medical equipment is now installed, 14% of non-medical equipment is in place, 21% of laboratory equipment has been deployed and 16% of ICT infrastructure has been installed.
"CHI is ready to do our part in making the building a functioning welcoming hospital, and as previously stated, this commissioning period will take approximately seven months following handover of the completed building at substantial completion," she will say.
In a statement to RTÉ News ahead of the committee, the NPHDB said it is "committed to and is doing everything in its power to compel BAM to conclude its work and fulfil its contractual responsibilities, so that the NCHI is completed to the standard set out in the contract as soon as possible and handed over to CHI for operational commissioning".
The Chair of the Committee John Brady said the updates are of "extreme concern".
He said in a statement that tomorrow "marks the 18th substantial completion date for the National Children’s Hospital that has been missed".
"This saga cannot be allowed to continue in this way," said Mr Brady.
