Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No, I would not. With the benefit of hindsight and in the interests of absolute honestly, when reflecting on this in recent days, I wish I added a further sentence to acknowledge that there was an ongoing GMP process that would crystallise the final cost for phase B. Again, I do not think the existence of a GMP process was a secret. Members of the Oireachtas would have been well aware of it because it was originally decided on as a strategy in 2014, endorsed by the Government's contracts committee in 2015 and subject to a number of Cabinet decisions and Cabinet memoranda, including memoranda on the children's hospital, before my appointment to Cabinet as Minister for Health. There was an ongoing process. I stand by the importance of answering the question accurately, which I did. The project was on profile. I repeated the figure relating to the original budget as well. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had added a line pointing out that there was an ongoing process relating to the GMP. I must also make the point, and the evidence before this committee clearly shows it, that very intensive commercial negotiations were ongoing for about three months during and after that parliamentary question. I did not know the accurate figures until 9 November. Without being too pedantic, I would reject the assertion that I knew of figures of several hundred million euro. I do not believe that was the case. I have learned as Minister for Health - at times, the hard way - about the importance of establishing accurate and factual information before throwing it out into the public domain or putting on the record of the Dáil. Being truthful, a process was ongoing and I wish I had referenced that fact in the beginning.