Mr. Tom Parlon:

It is a pity somebody did not listen to the Deputy when fiscal rules were brought in. I doubt if we were in a great bargaining position as the gun was to our head at the time. I do not remember the Deputy making those points but I accept that he did.

The Deputy mentioned the Luas and the port tunnel but they go back a long way and tendering procedures have changed massively since then. All of our main motorways were delivered on time and within budget. It comes down to the quality of the tendering documentation. If one tenders for 50 km of road, with so many junctions and so many bridges, and the client decides they need something else the contractor has every right to ask for extra moneys for it. In my time the need to connect Roscrea to a project became an issue as it would have otherwise required a severe turn to the left and its exclusion was an oversight.

There is the new tendering process now. We have been in good negotiations, and in terms of Government involvement, we find that Mr. David O'Brien, who is now the representative at the Office of Government Procurement, is a very good professional. We have a good liaison with him, and he represents his job very well. That has come a long way.

A Japanese contractor was the main tunnelling contractor for the Dublin Port tunnel, and it had some issues. It cost much more than it was expected to cost, but I am not sure on the brief that was given. I believe that we are the right industry in the current situation. We can deliver the projects and have a very good history of delivering some excellent projects. The bulk are excellent, but there are a few that we cannot be proud of that. As a result of that, the CIF has proposed a construction industry register for Ireland. We have worked on it with the Government and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. We heard the Minister say as late as last Friday evening in Cork that he is bringing a memo to Government shortly which will make the construction industry register of Ireland a mandatory register and which will lay out strict rules as to who can be a contractor and who can be involved with construction projects with regard to competence, tax compliance, health and safety, insurance and so on. It is going to mean that it is professionals who will be involved in future. That is what we are pushing very strongly. Some of the so-called cowboys brought a bad reputation upon the industry that we still have to live with and that left us with many legacy issues.

I think that we give good value for money now. On the one hand, we are here collectively as the Construction Industry Federation. If there is a €50 million road project up in the morning, I can guarantee that our civil engineering firms will be at each others' throats over it and there will be a very aggressive and competitive tender put in. It will be exactly as per the terms of that contract. If somebody left out something or if there are some extras, that is a different issue. We have some flexibility. Previously, all of the risk rested with the contractor. That made it very contrarian. Everybody had to mind their Ps and Qs. There was a bit more balance there.