Professor Eoin Reeves:

I agree. When Carillion went bust in January 2018, the banks and the private sector took the risk. At the time there was much panic because the schools were not opening, which showed that the ultimate risk taker is always the service user. When Carillion went into bankruptcy, the Government and the NDFA were managing the project and were in a position to stand back and let it be resolved within the special purpose vehicle. Eventually, a cost was paid by the service user but that will not apply in this case.