Mr. Peter Walsh:

I am happy to take that question, because I know Mr. Moran is deeply invested in it. I have the opportunity for a little more objectivity.

There is one thing I am keen to clarify. There is no negotiation. It is not a negotiation that is occurring as part of the contract. It is important to point that out. A process is clearly mapped out. The contractors and designers work in collaboration with our people on site to seek to identify a design that meets the employer's requirements. We then develop the methodologies of working and traffic management and we do all the site investigations.

There were several references to statutory undertakers and moving of services. Bord Gáis, Waterways Ireland and Irish Water are involved. When they are faced with discussing with a contractor how to move a particular service, it becomes a far more real conversation. We have to go into the detail of it and what exactly is required has to be fleshed out. That all takes time. A great deal has been achieved in the past year. I would not like to give the impression that there has been any delay in that regard. There has not.

In fairness, the contractor has to get the cost projections right. I can comment without exposing anything in terms of the confidential nature of the contract. Deputy Buckley asked about the target cost and how that works. I can give some explanation on that without breaching any confidentiality clause because it is down to the principle of the contract. Basically, when the target cost is set - it must be set by agreement - that becomes the figure against which the performance of the contractor is measured. The contract requires that the contractor be paid costs plus an overhead. At the original tendering, that overhead was bid. The contractor gets costs and overheads. If the costs are below the target, as agreed, then there is a sharing of the benefit. The sharing in this contract is 80% for the taxpayer and 20% for the contractor. If the costs go above the target, there is a pain element for the contractor set at 60%. There is a guaranteed maximum to the taxpayer. If we go 25% above the target, the contractor carries all the cost. Thus, the contractor must be careful.

In fairness, the contractor is meticulous, as it has to work through every location. I cannot over-emphasise the detail involved. Every location on the job has to be identified, and the contractor has to get crew, materials, and plant into that location, which could then be stuck there until they can be retrieved. How does the contractor price that, or establish what its costs would be? Final figures on that have been coming in over a period of time, and we are not breaching any confidentiality in saying that. I do not know from where the impression that the project is behind time is coming. When we went to the Government contracts committee for construction originally, we were told that this was a four-year, or 210-week, contract and that the first two years were regarded as stage one. We are just over one year into it, so the impression that it is behind schedule is wrong. Granted, we thought we might get it done quicker, but when one gets into the detail, these things cannot be shortcutted.