Mr. Mark Griffin:

At the risk of repeating myself, it is not unusual in the evolution of projects for the estimated project costs identified before tender to be different from the costs that are part of the outcome of a tender process. In the case of projects across the public and private sectors, it is not unusual at all for that to happen. Let me mention the 2010 consultation process that we undertook with over 60 stakeholders. It included ten to 15 public sector organisations, half a dozen postal delivery and courier service organisations, including An Post, DHL, FedEx, UPS and Nightline, and other representative bodies, such as the Irish Exporters Association, IBEC and the Communications Workers Union. What clearly came out at that stage, and not earlier, was that pan-Government support and early implementation shall provide a major positive stimulus for the dissemination and uptake of the postcode. It was the outcome of that analysis that drove the decision to provide for the update of public sector databases as part of the implementation of the project. That, in itself, added €9.5 million net of that.