John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My assessment is that a process started and a decision was made around the two-stage tendering process. A contractor renowned for its ability to claim extra on original tender prices saw an opportunity, came in and underbid everyone else by an amount that would have raised red flags in any circumstance. How that did not happen given the experience of the board members is beyond me. Once the company got in, it was in a position to gouge the next section of the job. Costs have gone from €900 million to €1.4 billion and will probably not stop there. I hope the independent inquiry will produce a breakdown of the €90 million cost of nine months of extra preliminary works. I would love to see how that figure was justified and agreed, how a figure of €27 million was agreed for increased fire regulations and how €94 million was agreed for finalising on detailed itemised quantities of all materials and fixtures with a further €20 million for design. The millions roll into hundreds of millions. Unfortunately, taxpayers and the various health facilities that are needed throughout the country and are crying out for a couple of million euro here or there, for example, to build an additional theatre, will suffer for many years to come.