Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is still far too much risk around future cost rises to this project. The Deputy asked us to ask it if there was a way of reducing the cost of the project. It came back and said that there may be technical ways of doing that, but that the board should be putting its effort into reducing the risk of further cost rises arising from this. That is where the focus needs to be.

People have been asking what the final cost of this project will be, which is a perfectly valid and reasonable question. If we used a traditional procurement model we would not have been able to determine the final cost until the project was completed and the claims were submitted. It is normal in any project for claims to come in at the end. This was the case during the building of the Luas. It would be difficult to find an auditor anywhere in the world who will say absolutely and definitively that there is no further risk of cost rises.