COMPLETION OF THE National Children’s Hospital has been delayed once more and pushed out from June 2025 to September 2025. 

The delay was confirmed in correspondence from the head of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), the body responsible for building the new children’s hospital, to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee. 

David Gunning, chief officer of the NPHDB, will appear before the Public Accounts Committee tomorrow. 

In his opening statement to the committee, seen by The Journal, Gunning tells TDs and senators that the hospital’s building contractor, BAM, indicated earlier this month that the hospital’s substantial completion date has been extended to 30 September 2025. 

BAM had previously committed to a completion date of June 2025. 

Gunning writes in his opening statement: “This further delay is a cause of great frustration. We acknowledge that the hospital is progressing, but BAM’s pace is insufficient to meet the 30th June deadline it committed to.”

Gunning outlined that in the past seven months, BAM has achieved approximately 60% of its planned progress.

“The NPHDB holds BAM to account across several programme KPIs, and all of these are currently behind schedule,” Gunning said.

Gunning explained that while the NCH has reached the final construction phase, “progress has not been made at the expected pace”.

“Most internal and external areas have been brought to an initial stage of completion,” he said.

This delay is the fifteenth time in over four years that a promised completion date has not been met.

Although the completion date for the hospital is now September, it is understood that the “operational commissioning” phase will take an additional six months, at least.

The project was initially expected to cost €983 million in 2017, but the total cost has now ballooned to over €2 billion. 

Deficit 

Separately, the chief executive of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), Lucy Nugent, who will also appear before the Public Accounts Committee tomorrow, outlined in her correspondence to the committee the financial position of the organisation. 

According to CHI’s 2023 accounts, the organisation returned a deficit of €7.8 m for 2023. This compares with a deficit of €0.9m in 2022.

The increase reflects the net impact of the incremental cost of the provision of services, according to Nugent.

The cumulative deficit at 31 December 2023 amounted to €18m.

“A substantial element of the balance relates to legacy deficits incurred prior to the establishment of CHI,” Nugent said.