Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has informed Cabinet of the latest delays to the National Children's Hospital (File image)

Minister signals BAM should not bid for hospital project

by · RTE.ie

The Minister for Health has indicated that contractor BAM should not tender for the new National Maternity Hospital project at Elm Park, as she revealed that she has informed Cabinet about fire certification problems at the National Children's Hospital, for which BAM is responsible.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said that the business case for the new maternity facility on the St Vincent's Hospital grounds will be brought to Cabinet this autumn.

She noted that a lot of the preparatory work has been ongoing at the site, and said that the tendering process will not get underway until the Cabinet approves the project.

When asked about further reported delays to the National Children’s Hospital, the minister said that she brought a memo to Cabinet this week which has detailed issues which have arisen.

She said that Children’s Health Ireland has taken over parts of the site from the developer to continue fitting out the facility, but that an issue arose around fire safety certification on a floor.

"There’s an issue with some of the bathrooms where they (BAM) were required to produce the fire certification for the materials that they used, and they were not able to do that."

She said any delays, including this latest one, are adding to the overall timeline for delivering the hospital.

When asked if the contractor BAM will be allowed to tender for the Elm Park NMH site, she said: "I wouldn't.

The minister added "I think, you know, anybody is allowed to tender ..." while she nodded.

When she was asked to explain her response further, the minister did not elaborate.

Minister Carroll MacNeill was also asked about the discontinuation of private obstetric care for women at Holles Street, where it has been reported that 150 women have been refused private consultant-led care in the last six weeks.

She said that all women should have access to good public care during their pregnancies, and stated that is the system that is being developed through the public-only consultant contracts.