Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 7 March 2019

Public Accounts Committee

Oversight and Implementation of Capital Projects and the Role of Public Officials on State Boards: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Office of Government Procurement

9:00 am

Mr. Robert Watt:

What we are saying is that in the future we will only make a decision on something when we have the detailed design set out. In the case of the hospital, that would be all the bill of quantities for every room, corridors, systems and so on. We must set out the detailed design and that must be priced competitively, in a process. That said, within a detailed design there is always potential for price variations and for disputes. If one thinks about a traditional lump sum contract, that is not necessarily the end of the matter. There can be disputes and it can get very adversarial. That is a function of the quality of the tender and design. If we have a very well designed project, where we have sufficient detail and have spent a lot of time and money on developing the design, that ensures that we will have the optimum level of certainty. Even if 100% is not achievable, it will be 98% to 102%. It will be at a rate where-----

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