This morning, the Committee of Public Accounts received a letter from David Gunning, the chief officer of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board - the famous children’s hospital - updating it on project costs. In his letter, Mr. Gunning states that while things are on budget, there are a number of exceptions which have always been outside of the approved budget for which there cannot be price certainty at this point or for the duration of the project. That is the chief operating officer and it sounds like a blank cheque. What brakes has the Government put in place for this blank cheque? How can it be that certain in its assertions around the budget when this provision is in place?

The letter to the Committee of Public Accounts contains exactly the same information that the chairman of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board gave to the Joint Committee on Health in July. That is the reality, as the Deputy, his party and every other Member knows well. There are several issues, including those relating to claims that can be made by a contractor in respect of any capital project. Obviously, there is also the issue of inflation and that needs to be reformulated next year. The Government has only approved €1.433 billion of taxpayers’ money for this project. The total project cost is €1.7 billion. It is a reality that as this construction project continues, claims will continue to come in. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board will continue to robustly defend those claims. That is the point the chief executive officer was making honestly to the Committee of Public Accounts this morning.