Mr. Tom Costello:

On the preliminary design, the layout of the hospital had been agreed and the overall design brief had been specified to us. It it is not as though a rough design went out. When it went out, phase A, which was the basement works, was complete. In regard to phase B, there was a quantity against the rates of all elements and the quantities were finalised in the design development. However, there was specification for every element of the job, including doors, windows, cables and so on. The way two-stage tendering works is that the design is developed for a very complicated process such as this. At the end of the design phase, one is in a position to progress the project. We are in a very competitive tendering market and the rates we got in 2016 are now applied to the updated quantities. In a way, it is a relatively simple mathematical exercise. The contractor is bound by the rates it bid in 2016. The opportunity referred to by the Chair does not exist.