Head of development at Temple Bar Properties, Maeve Jennings, said that given the last 10 years in Ireland, the delays to the National Children’s Hospital were not unusual. 

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary since the national children’s hospital was granted planning permission, and not a single child patient has yet been treated there.

Pat Kenny asks why is it seemingly impossible to get big infrastructure projects done in this country, and how do other countries manage it?

Maeve Jennings, head of development at Temple Bar Properties told The Pat Kenny Show, said that given the last 10 years in Ireland, the delays to the National Children’s Hospital were not unusual. 

“Often with big projects, because of their complexity and because they’re specialised you can have overruns”, she told The Pat Kenny Show on Sunday. 

“I don’t think we’re especially unique in that regard. 

“When it comes to an urgent project, if the children's hospital is indeed urgent, at this stage, then 10 years is a long time.

“A lot of the preparation for a project should happen such that the actual delivery of it happens a bit quicker than that.”

The Children's Hospital: 10 years on

Mrs Jennings said that countries that have been undertaking big projects across the European Union for the past 20 to 30 years have developed a certain knack for it whereas took a bit of pause after the port tunnel. 

“Pratice makes perfect”, she said on Newstalk.

“[Countries like the UK and France] have learned those lessons, something I think Ireland is doing now with the Children’s Hospital.”

Presenter Pat Kenny raised the issue of the price of the hospital rising as works stall. The latest figures signal it is worth well over 2.5 billion euros. 

Construction underway on the site of the new National Children's Hospital in Dublin. Image: BAM Ireland

Mrs Jennings said that the procurement method used was perhaps somewhat optimistic. 

She advised that for works this consequential a maximum price contract should be devised and the project should be designed to the last detail. 

“As soon as you vary, you open a whole variety of clauses”, she said. 

“Which causes the price and the time to change, as I understand it, that's what happened in the Children's Hospital. 

“The lesson learned from that is if that's the procurement method you want to use, fixed price is nice and a fixed project should be in mind. 

“Pre-development work, knowing how many doorknobs you're going to use or how many operating theatres you're going to have from the get go is key to the success of those contracts.

“It may impact the skills somebody requires on the site or in the design phase, it may impact your planning permission - if you change things, you open the door to adjusting the price.

“Because we don't do this regularly and often, we are building those skills. We've never built a metro and we’ve never built a children's hospital.”

Main Image: The National Children's Hospital. Picture by: Q4 Public Relations.