Additional payments of more than €60 million have been determined to be due to Bam, the main contractor on the construction of the new national children’s hospital, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee has been told.
In a letter dated February 5th, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) said it was “actively defending” claims to the value of €899 million issued by Bam to the employer’s representative – the independent third-party managing the contract. It said this included claims that had been “duplicated or triplicated”.
The letter said that in relation to claims of €60.2 million, the employer’s representative had determined that there was an entitlement to the payment. It is understood that these payments are not being disputed by the NPHDB.
Other additional payments of about €145 million awarded to Bam on foot of several claims are subject to appeal in the High Court. Bonded payments have been made to the contractor pending the final outcome of these proceedings.
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The NPHDB said in its letter to the committee that it continued “to do everything in its power to compel Bam to complete its work and fulfil its contractual responsibilities”.
“Bam has delayed its expected substantial completion date 18 times over the past five years. Bam’s latest programme update was provided to the employer’s representative, the independent third party managing the contract, on 9 January 2026. In it, Bam states that the substantial completion date [for the new children’s hospital] is 30 April 2026, which is 40 months later than the revised contract date [of December 2022].”
The new hospital was first proposed in 1993 and, after several false starts, a planning application was lodged in 2015 with an estimated price of €650 million and an initial completion date of 2020.
The NPHDB maintained that Bam “has not adequately resourced the National Children’s Hospital Ireland project”.
“This is evidenced by its continued failure to meet its planned progress toward completing the project, resulting in lower-than-expected valuations and certified payments. The NPHDB welcomes the deployment of additional experienced professionals from BAM UK and Ireland in November and December 2025 to support the work,” it said.
Bam said in a statement that the hospital project was “more than adequately resourced for the current phase of works, with staffing levels aligned to – and in excess of – the requirements of the programme at this stage of completion, commissioning and handover.
“Many of the staff on site at this late stage of completion are now highly specialist staff addressing specific areas of final stage commissioning.”
The company said that the new national children’s hospital was an exceptionally complex healthcare facility and was now in the final stages of commissioning and de-snagging.
