John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in. I read the report of last week's committee meeting at which there was a discussion on the rationale behind the two-stage process, including all of the good reasons for doing it. The unfortunate reality is that it did not produce any of what it set out to do. It did not produce determined costs, reduce cost uncertainty or eliminate client-contractor risk. It resulted in a €400 million overspend or increase on the original tender price. Deputy O'Connell hinted at something earlier and I want to expand on it further. Five tenders were submitted, the lowest of which was for €637 million. That was €131 million lower than the next highest tender. Did anybody anywhere raise a red flag when he or she saw that?