Department of Health officials said “lessons have been learnt” from the procurement process of the controversial National Children’s Hospital.
That project will cost €2.24bn and will not be completed until June next year after the finish date was changed 14 times in the last four years, following a previous deadline of November 2022.
The new maternity hospital will relocate facilities from its cramped and outdated building in Holles Street in Dublin city to the St Vincent’s Hospital campus in Dublin 4.
Department of Health officials said that under the current timetable, it is envisaged the hospital will be built in late 2028 to early 2029.
Tenders from construction companies to build the main hospital are due before the end of the year and the next government will need to sign off on them next year, paving the way for the building to start.
“We have taken a different procurement approach and a different approach as we enter into the contract,” senior health official Derek Tierney told the Oireachtas health committee.
“We separated the enabling works from the main works contractor to de-risk the main works contractor.”
Criticism of the contract around the children’s hospital was that a lack of final design before signing contracts with builder BAM contributed to an escalation in costs due to changes.
Mr Tierney told the committee that when it came to the new maternity hospital, there was now a detailed design going into procurement.
It has not “once, but twice” carried out independent, third-party reviews of that design for robustness to ensure that it reflects a true bill of quantities to support that.
This is to bring all the parties together, integrate all the parties and make sure everybody is clear about what the intent is
“Ultimately, the budget will be set once we complete procurement of the main works and the specialties. That will be brought to government for sign-off and agreement,” he said.
“There is another thing we are doing in the construct of lessons learnt. Before we sign any contract with a construction contractor or reserve specialists, we will enter into a six-month pre-service contract period.
“This is to bring all the parties together, integrate all the parties and make sure everybody is clear about what the intent is and that any open questions are answered before we sign down contracts.”
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has faced a series of parliamentary questions about the new maternity hospital’s progress.
Mr Donnelly told Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan a number of buildings were required to be completed in advance of the commencement of the main works.
“It is expected that they will be completed by mid-2025 in parallel with the seeking of government consent to proceed to sign contracts,” the minister said.
“The new hospital plan was approved by the Cabinet in 2022 after a heated row over its clinical and operational independence was concluded.”
