Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That figure amounts to €1.433 billion for construction. Several issues have been identified that lead to a potential for that to rise further. One of these is construction inflation. The contractor must be compensated for any inflation above 4%, as per the average of three published tender price indices, which may occur after July 2019. Has the Department worked out what that could potentially be? The Office of Public Works, OPW, appeared before the committee a few weeks ago. Its representatives said that in delivering their projects they find that construction inflation is in double digits. They mentioned 11% or 12%. What is the extra cost of every 1% above 4%?