Ms Tracey Conroy:

There are a number of layers to that question. On the report the Deputy mentioned, as I have said, I am not familiar with it but we can come back to her with detail on that. As a frame for the answer to this, it is important to say that at every stage in this process, the build board, the Department and the HSE were operating within approved budget limits approved by the Government at each stage and that was on the basis of approved project briefs in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and in December 2018 that reflected the stage at which the project was at each time.

On the new external reviews which the Government has requested in the context of the approval to move to phase B, just one of them has started, namely, the external review of the escalation of costs that has been commissioned by the HSE. Mr. Sullivan will be in a position to advise us on the exact costs of that. The other two reviews have not yet started. The second one on governance and oversight will start once the first has been completed. The third review on the scenario analysis of potential risks has also not yet started but it has been agreed in principle that it will be undertaken as part of the review of the cost escalation.