Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

One of the factors was flagged earlier. Wage inflation may well be a reason for an even further overrun. This is not Monopoly money and we must have serious concerns about cost control. There is an opportunity cost in what is not going to be able to be done. There is a degree of spin about this that no other project will be impacted. We have to keep a close eye on this because there is a pattern where some contractors come in low and there is an add-on. This contractor has that type of profile. The NPDHB will come before us in the coming weeks but we need to have somebody come in and speak to us about the cost control side of the project at this stage because unless we maintain a grip on it and interrogate the additional bills coming in, we will run into even bigger cost overruns.