Leo Varadkar’s criticisms in the Dail last week of “low-ball” bidders for state contracts so incensed BAM Ireland, the construction firm building the national children’s hospital, that it is ready to review its involvement in the project.
In an unexpected announcement on Friday, BAM Ireland said it “wishes to advise the hospital board that if it would prefer to opt out of this contract and procure the work in some other way, then BAM will co-operate with them to facilitate this option”. The precise intention of the company needs to be clarified, but its statement has opened up possibilities.
Mr Varadkar’s tough talk in the Dail was typically self-serving, attempting to deflect the blame for the €2bn hospital debacle from the development board overseeing the