Construction company BAM asked the Government to pay €25m for a job at the National Children's Hospital which had cost them €200,000 to carry out, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has revealed.
"It cost - I think - less than 1% of that. It cost less than €200,000, and it took a few weeks," the minister told the Oireachtas Committee on Health.
"It's worth saying that - mistakenly or not - BAM still issued an invoice to the State for the full €25m.
"But maybe that was an administrative error on their part."
The cost arose from changes made to air conditioning grilles.
Mr Donnelly said there had been a claim that the changes would delay the project for "many, many months - maybe a year".
"In the end it didn't cost the €25m - which I think was being suggested - it cost €200,000."
It was completed "in a matter of weeks," he added.
The Minister for Health also told the committee that he had a "very clear and forthright discussion" with Royal BAM over the completion of the new hospital.
"I very clearly put it to them that it was our view that the project was both consistently and substantially under-resourced," Mr Donnelly said.
However, the minister would not say whether Royal BAM - the parent company of BAM Ireland - had agreed with his statements.
There had been concerns that the date for completion of the hospital could slip into 2026.
Mr Donnelly told Sinn Féin's Health Spokesperson David Cullinane that, if the committee was to call Royal BAM in, it could ask them for further details.
Deputy Cullinane questioned the merit of BAM's assurances, noting that the company has given no indication whether it accepts the basic facts that the project is under-resourced and overdue.
The minister said that he had asked the head of Royal BAM: "Why should I believe that June isn't simply going to be the 15th missed deadline?"
He then asked, "for Royal BAM to stand over that date".
"They did stand over that date. They have gone back now to interrogate that in detail with their own people," the minister said.
BAM committed to meeting substantive completion date - statement
In a statement this afternoon, BAM said it has committed to meeting the substantive completion date of June 2025 subject to no further substantive design changes instructed by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB).
It said this is a critical condition to ensuring its latest programme can be agreed and delivered.
The company said it welcomed the recent forthright and robust engagement with Mr Donnelly, the Secretary General of the Department of Health and officials in the department.
BAM said it has continuously stated its belief that the best way to deliver the completed hospital as quickly and efficiently as possible is for all parties to work together collaboratively.
The company said a statement made by the Chair of the NPHDB today that there had been no substantive change instructed since 2019 was not supported by the evidence.
It added that 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.
Even when change is required for regulatory compliance it is still material and requires funding and time, the firm added.
BAM said it was in everyone's interest now to ensure there is no further change and it believes this was understood by the department.
The company said it has always staffed the project appropriately and are currently deploying more than 50% additional resource above expected levels for this stage of the project.
NCH completion date must face 'independent scrutiny', cttee told
Mr Donnelly said that the June 2025 date put forward by builders BAM, for the substantial completion of the hospital, must be subject to independent scrutiny.
He told the committee that the contractual compliance and validity of the building programme needs to be determined by the independent contract administrator, the Employer's Representative.
Mr Donnelly added that he sought Royal BAM's commitment to provide early access for Children's Health Ireland's commissioning team to expedite certain operational commissioning activities.
"We in Government are committed to seeing the new children's hospital open for the treatment of children of this island open as soon as possible," he said.
"The level of quality required has not been met yet. They're more than capable of meeting the quality standards," the minister stated, noting that BAM has completed other projects for the State on time.
Mr Donnelly added that there are not enough workers or management on site, which is contributing to delays.
Alongside the construction of the new hospital, Mr Donnelly outlined that there is a significant programme of work to prepare for the opening of the new hospital, which will involve the integration of three hospitals and workforces.
Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan said that despite the issues, the National Children's Hospital is a flagship project that should be encouraged and supported to finish the last 5%.
Deputy Durkan added that suggestions of going to court to resolve matters would be the wrong move.
When People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Gino Kenny suggested that 2026 was a more realistic date for the hospital opening, Mr Donnelly responded: "I don't think we should be going there."
The minister noted that a six-month commissioning phase would follow substantial completion, and said that all involved should be "laser focussed on the end of next year".
In relation to the commissioning phase, he said that "we are looking to accelerate some of that".
Clinicians would prefer not to conduct that process during winter due to demands on services, the minister noted, adding that any decision in that regard would be clinician led.
"I think that it's very, very important that we don't start talking about 2026," Mr Donnelly said.
'Upshot'
Asked "what exactly was the upshot" of the meeting with Royal BAM, Mr Donnelly replied: "Let's see. Let's see what comes out of it".
He told Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall: "I hope it was a productive meeting".
Deputy Shortall noted the minister's recent comment that "BAM Ireland were seeking to extract as much money from the Irish taxpayer as possible".
"Did you repeat that charge to Royal BAM?" she asked, noting that it was a very serious claim to make.
"It was certainly raised at the meeting," Mr Donnelly insisted, but would not say what Royal BAM's response was.
"I don't want to characterise their responses.
"But you will appreciate they were not coming in accepting that they were fully at fault for everything."
He added: "Obviously, it's something that they would dispute."
When asked to confirm that Royal BAM had challenged the remark, the minister demurred, repeating that he does not "want to mischaracterise" anything.
"They wrote a letter in response where they did refute that allegation," the minister then said.
Questions over medicial equipment
Patrick Lynch, HSE Lead Director for project and programme assurance, said that there are about "100,000 pieces of equipment that have to be brought in" during the commissioning process.
More importantly, he added, there are "about 36,000 individual pieces that will have to be connected to what is now a single digitial hospital".
Fiona Ross, Chair of the NPHDB, rejected suggestions that medical equipment would be rendered obsolete by delays to the project.
She told the committee: "Some of the bigger, more substantive equipment is going it, but it would be covered by warranties.
"We are hopeful, again, with the substantial completion date of June, that won't be an issue and we don't expect it to be.
"But time is of the essence."
Ms Ross said that meeting with BAM had given her grounds for hope.
"Royal BAM is a large international listed company. It is a tier one contractor.
"For its global CEO to sit in a room with a state, and agree that they will honour a date, I think was a very important meeting for us".
