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NATIONAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL contractor BAM has hit back at claims that it is seeking to “extract as much money from the Irish taxpayer as possible” and “holding the state to ransom”, as Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly put it to the Taoiseach in a letter on Friday.
In Donnelly’s letter, he said that it was in the view of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, which is responsible for the hospital, that BAM was approaching the project on the basis of “extracting as much money from the Irish taxpayer as possible”.
The National Children’s Hospital, which is now years overdue, has cost the state €2.2 billion to date. It had previously been marked for completion in 2020 with a budget of €650 million.
Now, it is expected to welcome patients in 2026.
Minister Donnelly, and his predecessors in the role, current and former Taoisigh Simon Harris and Leo Varadkar, have faced widespread criticism over the failing of the government to deliver the hospital within the expected timeframe.
In a statement issued today, BAM said that it had reviewed the contents of Donnelly’s letter to Taoiseach Simon Harris and “rejects in the strongest terms the misleading, ill-informed and incorrect allegations levelled against it”.
The construction company said that the biggest factor in the delay of the project is “client-side design changes”, citing independent assessments and PwC’s 2019 report, as well as the award of €107 million to BAM in May for delay due to client-side design changes.
The company added that although the cost of the hospital has risen to the dramatic figure of €2.2 billion, the amount relating to BAM costs including sums “likely to be awarded through a dispute resolution process”, “will be slightly above half of the overall capital spend on this project.”
The build phase is now more than 93% completed based on the original scope, BAM said, adding that it was currently resourcing the project at approximately 50% above the level that was anticipated at this late stage, hitting back at Donnelly’s letter, in which he says that it is of the view of the board that BAM is under-resourcing the project.
Further, BAM rejected the assertion in the letter to Taoiseach Simon Harris that the 3,000 rooms they had offered as complete were not at the “acceptable standard”, saying: “BAM is fully confident in the quality of the construction work for this world class hospital.
‘The handover of rooms and de-snagging of minor issues is a routine element of the project which has clearly been affected by the level of client-instructed change.
“This is a process, not a one-off event, and rooms are never presented as final until the completed building is handed over to the customer,” it said.
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Brother works for an engineering consultant company. It’s widely known across the board that for every project tender that goes out, BAM will always enter in a low ball quote, and then claim extra costs throughout that will bump up the final price. Every. Time.
Private companies avoid using them because of this, but the way government projects work, the lowest initial bid almost always gets the contract. They should be rejected from future public projects but of course it won’t happen.
@ChrisF: Sounds like a company Trump would be proud of!
@Mick Hanna: Or CEO of
@ChrisF: we should just buy a construction company (should have done it years ago)
@ChrisF: public tendering process rules prevents previous experience with the company being factored in so BAM can and will continue to put in for public contracts and as per their M.O. will continue to lowball on contracts.
@ChrisF: that’s not Bams fault. They are simply playing the game. Tge blame’s falls solely on The idiocy of the government procurement policy. But the government like to blame everyone else. It’s widely known there was never a complete tender package for bam to price. Hence why nobody knows the final bill.
@Mick Hanna: strange comment considering it’s our own european family that is giving us a jolly rogering.
@Horsebox: its not a popular truth to state but it is just that, the truth. Same with 2008, bankers took full advantage of the situation and they didn’t because the government is compromised and full to the gunwales of low iq idiots.
@Thesaltyurchin: No. We should use a good one, buying one is a waste of money.
@Fidgenti: He would bankrupt them as he has done his corporation, I think 5 times to date (not sure about the figure but I heard that number)
@Horsebox: BAM invented the rules for the so called game, through many years of a claims culture.
@ChrisF: Not only that but they’re well known for not paying their sub-contractors(as they employ very few Irish people), like they did when they got the Courthouse contract from the FG government. The government have no excuse for continuing to give them contracts.
@ChrisF: should award these contracts to Spanish or Turkish contractors that have proven track records.
@Richard Starling: Bankruptcy laws arnt the same as here. I believe the chapter of bankruptcy he got is common place in the states
Warned not to use BAM and they ignored it but they are extremely popular apparently
@Brian D’Arcy: the brown envelope lives
@Brian D’Arcy: FFG the fiscally responsible party
@Brian D’Arcy: Popular with venal politicians!
Did they build the bike shed too?
@Aus: No that was Pascals mate
This is Ireland where the lowest tender wins the contract & companies low ball to get it, this is a well known practice & has worked great for Companies here in ripping off the State. Some companies who grease the palm are given an indicative figure to tender. The etenders.gov.ie tender system is rotten to the core, I have witnessed companies who should have won the tender not get the contract as the company who greased the palm didn’t get it, so everyone was invited to retender, until they got their result. I have witnessed State bodies disregard the etender process without any punishment, indeed in some cases if you open your mouth you are punished & I experienced that with one State body, who believe me you don’t want to cross. The system is inherently corrupt & this is what you get.
@SV3tN8M4: Can you name and shame them. Why, as taxpayers, do we have to put up with this blatant corruption.
@SV3tN8M4: but surely there are conditions in the main contract that allow for a procedure for pricing and agreeing extra works. Surely there is an entire team of commercial consultants and lawyers working on behalf of the client/state that value and administer the contract conditions?
How could the original price for the hospital be €650 when the client fit out alone is almost €900m to-date.
I have a feeling that the state started this project not knowing the enormity of the job at hand. After all it is one of the biggest jobs in the history of the state and I wouldn’t expect any contractor or civil service to predict the outcome 5 years ago. Also €650m is only the figure to get it rubber stamped at government level.
BAM are extracting the urine on this.
And the government keeps giving them more work.
BAM charged 25 million for work, and they then subbed out for 200 thousand. Total theft.
The hospital features in the “megaprojects” YouTube channel this week for being the most expensive building of all time. AND it’s in the wrong place. Parents will need to wheelbarrow their sick child through the gridlock.
@Freda Peeple: Health Insurance will go through the roof now to pay for this Taj Mahal. The remediation costs will top a Billion again, not one room meeting the spec, sub contractors on this site have been telling people for the last year of the snag list & poor quality of workmanship. The Board overseeing this need investigation, there is something seriously wrong that it’s of such sub standard & they have sat on their hands, it stinks to high heaven, I suspect another expose to come yet. Sack the Board, along with Donnelly & Watt & install people who will get things done, enough of this worldwide embarrassment.
@Freda Peeple: Saw that. The shame! Who will be fired from the chain of incompetent people involved in the decision tree?
@SV3tN8M4: It really is mortifying for the government, they couldn’t run an egg and spoon race and us tax payers get no return on our hard work. The fraud and negligence on this catastrophe will make a great case study. Heads need to roll
A trophy project , with a design based on hubris rather then practically, built in the worse place possible, for an outrageous amount of cash, And the ffg anymore wasters decided all that are trying to blame the mess on someone else , And still a percentage of deluded irish citizens will still vote for them
‘Reeling in the years’ episodes in the future will feature George Michael,The children’s hospital,and gratitude shown to Queen Elizabeth at her funeral. Wham,BAM,Thank you,Ma’am.
What’s needed in Ireland is a tender evaluation process, which doesn’t just take the cost of the tender only, but evaluates Companies, giving weighting to experience, past performance, quality of work etc. This happens in modern functioning economies but this is Ireland, a failed State that can’t do anything right & someone gets a cut or a backhander, from the NCH to the Bike Shed, its rampant in State contracts. The board of BAM, the board of the National Paediatric Development, Stephen Donnelly & Robert Watt, The Dept of DEPR officals, Dept of Health officials, the HSE officials, the Engineers & Architects on sign off, the Politicians in power, should all be named, pictured & put in every paper & website to highlight incompetence of a world wide scale. A scandal befitting a failed Nation
@SV3tN8M4: we are not a failed state, predictable hyperbole but hyperbole nonetheless. This project is an utter failure but that does not equate to a failed state. Ireland has one of the highest global life expectancies it is an utter impossibility that could occur within a failed state.
@Terry Brophy: Fookin hell, how far do you have to descend to before you can admit that this is just one of many actions of a failed State, take off your party hat like a good lad & stand up & demand change & accountability. Accepting things like this over & over again, ensures the country descends into a free for all. Cop on to what’s happening man.
@Terry Brophy: Tell that life expectancy story to the parents down in Limerick you tool.
@Terry Brophy: we are a state that has been failed. Happy now?
@SV3tN8M4: we do have a pre-qualification process and then a tender evaluation. That’s why the bicycle shelter builder didn’t get on the children’s hospital tender list……
At one stage Bam offered to walk away from the project but the offer was not accepted. Why?
Interesting as I see BAM in 2022 were awarded the contract for the regeneration at Waterford quays and just this year for the narrow water bridge at Omeath. So what’s going on. Why ever award them another contract if they have stolen from the Irish tax payer. Who is in charge of all of this stuff. It seems like madness.
2 billion plus would Solve the housing crisis…but We can’t have that, can we???
@Mick Hanna: 2 billion would only build 5000 houses ya dimwit!
You must do BAM maths!
@Mick Hanna: lack of allocated funds is not the issue, lack of builders it’s really that simple
@Terry Brophy: and generational welfare scroungers denying affordable homes to tax payers
Bam has multiple contracts with many hospitals many public services, hand shake deals no due diligence,FFFG tents they never went away
Bam doing nothing different to every other construction company. Milk as much out of every contract as possible, its not their fault the govt are incapable of managing the contract.
If anyone performed as badly in their workplace they’d be fired for incompetence, can we not give BAM their P45 from this project. The only thing you can count on them for is a delay and looking for more money. They can “hit back” against the truth all they want they haven’t a leg to stand on. Everything said about them is true
The government should fall over this, especially Harris being at the wheel in the past as health minister and now leader, do his damdest to gaslight his way out of this too, but the people are too accepting of all these failing over and over again
Last Gov was brought down over Simon’s poor attempts to hide the true extent of the huge increase in costs of NCH.
And how did that turn out ?
He became leader of FG after Leo ran away and FG supposedly surging in polls.
So why all the drama folks, it’s all ok and acceptable to those responsible and their supporters.
SHAMEFUL
There’ll be an inquiry, nothing will happen, we’ll waste more tax money, lessons will not be learnt, tax papers will pay more and then the process won’t change because of “change inertia” in the public system structures – same reason HSE succumbed to a cyber attack- no local CEO flexibility like private/start up companies have
Realistically, it should be AGS investigating this fraud. It’s theft, plain and simple. From the moment the site was selected, to the contacts. It’s shockingly obvious. Why isn’t this being investigated?
Have heard they won contract for new bridge across Carlingford!!
Alot of people are going to be very disappointed to find out that, bam are more likely in the right on this. Just like the hse ppars disaster link below. The entire fault will be on the HSE. IE the wrong design in the wrong location. The fact that bam had no say in the design or the delivery. The fact that the board responsible for the design made 3000 changes. 3000 changes. One of these changes was because there was no helipad in the original design. Imagine a hospital with no helicopter facilities. There were many clever people who left this project because they knew before the soil was turned that it was a disaster in the making. The govt went ahead with it anyway.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ppars-fiasco-could-happen-again-says-report-1.1023500
They let me sign checks with a stamp Marge, A STAMP!
“BAM, and the budget is gone!” – Barry Humphries.
Lessons well learned… keep over-promising and under-delivering and you will go along way.
Did they not do the same to the Cork event centre.
@Dave Barrett: and the castleisland bypass, and the tralee bypass. As far as i know they still haven’t made public the final costs of the bypasses. It’s some country
Wring Company, wrong location, wrong governance…. Who cares eh.. all it seems to do is make them all more popular…
Sun 4 Jun 2023 Bam Ireland CEO: ‘We’re beyond 80pc complete on the new Children’s Hospital – and it’s an astonishing, first-class building’
What ever price they were to build hospital at that should be it and no bumping up
@Pauline Cahill: they tried that a few years back on a housing project in Limerick and the builder simply walked away and refused to build at a loss.
Cillit bam and your monies gone
A landmark of Irish corruption. A proud Irish heritage to be sure.
BAM need to complete the building and the Govt needs to stop making mistakes in delivery . Those responsible for the project at Civil Service level need to be held accountable for the mess.
They have enough money made out of this one project to last for centuries to come they couldn’t care less if they got another project in this country or not the owners are filthy rich thanks to the tax payers and a useless government.
Does Mick Wallace work for BAM?
@Oh Mammy: no Putin?
Hope those doors fixed for opening and the run on coffee will be extreme to say the least
Can we ask who are the civil servants who have signed off on this project? The mediocre abilities of the upper levels of the Irish civil service is staggering. They could give a masterclass to turds on how to float to the top.
Builder taking the client for a ride shocker
BAM smacks of the Trump ideal of business, I think they have coddede our Government up to the two eyes .Any way you look at this it’s a total embarrassment and I think everyone except BAM are running for cover,they just do what they do..And they ain’t finished [no pun intended]
23,328 changes made on the plans that BAM were working off… It’s no wonder the price of the build has spiraled. The only people responsible for the overspend and the ridiculous delay in opening the hospital are the board of the National Children’s Hospital. The total blame lies with these people. Nobody else.
I am confused as to why the building is so pretty. surely a bog standard box going up to the 10th floor, full of functional labs, theatres, wards etc., would have been much quicker, far cheaper to build and have less maintenance? The solar gain on the front of that building with all the glass will be a nightmare for patients.
At this rate it would be cheaper to abandon this project completely. Find a greenfield site outside Dublin and build a new hospital there instead.
@chrisf yeah and my brother is an astronaut
This company are well known for this approach but a lot of blame also must lie with the gov and project management team. I’ll say this, when you don’t know what you want, BAM are the last company you want doing the work for you.
Shower of begrudge! Sure it will be the best hospital in the whole world ever!
Bam (blameless and merciless) and the government will tell you they are learning from their mistakes, another mistake I do think and the government will never learn
have your say