The government must take control of the disastrous delivery of the National Children’s Hospital by issuing legal proceedings against BAM, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson Pádraig Rice.
Deputy Rice, who chairs the Oireachtas health committee, said:
“At today’s sitting of the health committee, Minister Carroll MacNeill said that she would not adopt a similar contractual structure to the one negotiated with BAM for the National Children’s Hospital for future projects, which has been pushed back 17 times since its original completion date in 2022.
“This admission comes on foot of the Minister’s latest PR stunt in standing up to BAM – in a letter provided ahead of today’s sitting, she said that she has written again to the Chair of Royal BAM Group, BAM Ireland’s parent company, expressing her dissatisfaction with the performance of BAM Ireland and calling for increased efforts to complete the long-delayed project.
“The Health Minister must stop drafting letters and start drafting court proceedings.
“This latest half-hearted intervention is taken from the same playbook as her predecessor Stephen Donnelly, who made a great play of his meeting with the chief executive of Royal BAM in 2024.
“At this much-vaunted meeting, the former Minister was given a commitment that the hospital would be complete by June 2025 – yet here we are in February 2026, still waiting.
“According to Minister Carroll MacNeill, she has been told that there is now more direct involvement from senior representatives from Royal BAM and BAM UK and Ireland – however, the number of workers on-site continues to drop.
“In December 2024, there were over 900 productive staff on site; a year later, there were just over 500 productive staff on site; as of the last week in January 2026, that number dropped by a further 82 workers, a reduction of over 15%.
“It’s abundantly clear that BAM’s assurances lack any credibility at this stage – the government must explore issuing proceedings against BAM for repeatedly failing to fulfil its contractual obligations and to get a commitment of a minimum number of workers on site to finally push this project over the line.
“Minister Carroll MacNeil told the committee today that, essentially, there is nothing more she can do other than ask BAM to step up and deliver the hospital by the end of April this year – its 18th completion target.
“BAM must step up to the plate and take responsibility for its failures, but so must this government, which is being given the run around.”
February 11th, 2026