Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Update on Construction of New National Children's Hospital: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board
9:30 am
Mr. David Gunning:
It is a very complex question. We have been involved in a contractual process here. We are implementing the State's public works contract. The final option in that is court and that is the reality of where we are at. We have made a number of efforts outside of the contractual mechanisms. We have engaged in alternate dispute resolution mechanisms with the contractor with a view to resolving matters but we have not reached a successful conclusion on that. We have wanted to achieve two things, namely, certainty on the timeline and certainty on the cost. Despite all of our discussions either outside the contract or via the contract, we have not been able to get the certainty we would want on those particular matters. In the absence of that, it is an aspiration to be able to get these matters resolved ahead of the court but we are just not there at the moment.
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