The board responsible for the development of the new National Children’s Hospital in Dublin has begun legal action against the construction company.
It’s over a dispute in relation to the validity of an alleged instruction given by the board to begin above ground works over a year ago.
The project has already attracted a lot of public criticism and controversy, especially in relation to its spiralling costs and size of the estimated final bill.
In this latest turn of events, the board responsible for its development has now initiated legal action against BAM Ireland, the company contracted to build it.
In a statement, it says it relates to failure to reach agreement on what it describes as a “contractual issue”.
It concerns an alleged instruction made by the board to BAM in January 2019 for above ground construction works to begin.
It says BAM has disputed the validity of this instruction, and after exhausting their agreed dispute management process, they’ve decided to take legal action.
In order to “rigorously defend the public purse”, it says it was left with no option to take this course of action.
BAM suspended construction work on the hospital this week after receiving confirmation it wasn’t considered an “essential service” as per the latest COVID-19 restrictions.
