Mr. Paul Quinn:

It is a difficult question because it is somewhat speculative. In hindsight, as I have mentioned, the one thing the board could have done differently would have been to add more external review of the accuracy of the design at various points. When one stands back and looks at what PwC showed in a graph, fundamentally, it was an underestimation of costs that happened because the design was not developed as substantially as it could have been. We started to bring in some expertise to look at matters such as the mechanical and electrical design to see the degree of appropriateness of the design. In hindsight, I do not think I could have gone to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform because, as stated earlier, I am bound by professional ethics in the job I do. Doing procurement on behalf of the State provides one with a great deal of information on a lot of contracts going many different directions. I have to keep my powder dry in respect of what I know, which I do because it is part of my professional job. I am also minded that I am bound by the statutory instrument under which the board was established, which gives a clear line of authority for reporting. It gives me clear obligations, while the circular clearly states that if there is a problem and I am not happy with how it is being addressed, my line of reporting is to the Minister for Health.

On whether I would have done anything differently in hindsight other than the peer review piece, the board, in the context of the job it was trying to do, was driving the executive and the design team to get the process concluded so that we get a decision to the Government. From our perspective, we did not want to get ahead of any sanctions. Rather, we wanted to give the facts to the Government and explain what had happened. We wanted to give options to the Government because we were gravely concerned about what had happened and how it had happened.

Ultimately, should I have gone differently to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform? I do not believe so.