SEVERAL BUILDING firms have tendered for the construction of a multimillion euro development at St Vincent’s hospital in Dublin which will house long-promised additional rooms for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.
The hospital said it will aim to complete the evaluation of the tenders by the end of this month and appoint a firm take on the job in October or November.
It also said it had received enough quotes “to guarantee a robust procurement process”. However, it would not say how many firms had tendered because it says this would be commercially sensitive information.
Provision of the new en suite rooms, which are essential for CF patients to prevent cross-infection, were in doubt earlier this year.
Doubts arose after the Health Service Executive (HSE) said it wouldn’t have funds to begin construction of the new block at St Vincent’s until 2011 at the earliest, despite a promise last year that the new unit would be built by 2010.
The admission outraged CF patients and the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland, which launched a campaign to compel Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney and the HSE to honour the commitment made in 2008.
After several days of controversy, Harney announced a way had been found to ensure the facility would still be built on time.
She said developers would be asked to tender for the project on the understanding that they would not be paid any money until it was completed.
Fears emerged that builders, as a result of the recession, might shy away from tendering for the project, which could cost up to €40 million, because they would not get staged payments.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael’s Tom Hayes has criticised the Government for pushing the promised national screening programme for detecting CF in newborns out until 2010 or later.
He said the programme was first promised in 2008 but, in reply to a written parliamentary question, the HSE has said a steering group established to implement the programme has a deadline of July 2010 for the delivery of the plan.At present some children with CF are not diagnosed for months or years after their birth, he said.