Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The next question goes back to the process for the guaranteed maximum price. Part of the problem relates to how long it took to do that. The PwC report states the process commenced in October 2017. It goes on to say that the stage 2 detailed design was completed in March 2018. What work could the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board do on the guaranteed maximum price before the design for phase 2 was completed? The board could do some work on it.

The issue here is that the board had the design completed in March and it was literally the end of November before it had the gross guaranteed maximum price finalised. The fact that this took so long put everyone in an invidious position in the month before Christmas. It probably meant that the board did not even have time to bring the matter to the steering committee. A great deal had to happen. The board knew these deadlines were imminent. Why did it let it run so late? Mr. Barry probably cannot answer that. Had the gross maximum price been signed off earlier, there would not have been a mad panic and the board might have been able to do a detailed report on the cost escalation. Does Mr. Barry get my point?