Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is important but the bigger risk for the taxpayer as of today concerns whether the amount involved stops at the €1.7 billion for which we are now on the hook or rises further. I would like more information on future-proofing the rest of the delivery under the contract.

On the flow of information, it appears from what Deputy Jonathan O'Brien was saying that there were clear indications of what was occurring from June 2017. With such a critical project, one would almost expect that there should have been a hotline if there was going to be a problem. It was the biggest project in the Department of Health and the flow seemed to be very slow. There was a reference to a response to a parliamentary question that the Department prepared and the Minister put on the record. The Department was not over-budget but it knew there was a problem. Perhaps there was not complete candour. The Department knew well there was a problem but was not saying there was a problem, and its reason for not acknowledging it was that it did not know its extent. There should have been a better flow of communication.