The new Tallaght Hospital is expected to award contracts for core operational services such as security, cleaning and maintenance before the end of next month. Tenders are already being sought for the cleaning contract, valued by industry sources at up to £2 million per annum.
However, it is likely that certain services, including catering, will not be put to outside tender but will rather be carried out by staff from the three merging institutions - the Adelaide, the Meath and the National Children's Hospital.
Dr David McCutcheon, chief executive officer at the new hospital, said: "We are operating on the premise that everyone currently employed by the hospitals will be employed at Tallaght."
The £123 million construction project is also drawing to a close. The 513-bed hospital is currently being equipped in preparation for the planned opening in January 1998.
Only £2 million of medical equipment is being salvaged from the three merging hospitals. Over £23 million is being spent on new x-rays and other equipment for more than 2,100 rooms, including operating theatres and intensive care units.
Some orders for equipment have already been placed, with Siemens Ltd and the GEC-owned specialists Picker International Inc, among others.
Supervising this equipping stage is one of the last functions of the hospital's planning board which has run in tandem with an operational board and was charged with overseeing the construction work.
The building was officially handed over to the board last May, marking the end of a £68 million contract, the largest single building contract awarded in Ireland.
The building firm, John Paul, carried out the work in a joint venture with British contractors John Laing Construction. An autonomous company, Laing-Paul Joint Venture, was established for the project with four directors, two from each firm.
Work began at the 35-acre site on October 29th 1993. A total of 96 sub-contractors have been employed since, with about 750 people working at the site at peak times.
The largest single section of the contract was £24 million for mechanical and electrical works, carried out by Mercury Engineering.
The remainder of the hospital's £123 million budget, of which about £31.6 million was EU funded, has been taken up by a number of other expenses such as land acquisitions, equipment and consultants' fees.
About £14 million was paid to the design team, led by architects Robinson Keefe & Devane. The other members are Thomas Garland & Partners, structural engineers; Varming Mulcahy Reilly Associates, electrical consultants; Boyd & Creed, quantity surveyors; and landscape consultants Brady Shipman & Martin.
Other costs included £450,000 for the acquisition of land from Dublin Corporation in 1985, and up to £8 million on miscellaneous expenses such as excavation work, fencing and accountants' and lawyers' fees.
