Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The overall price is extraordinary in comparison with the cost for much larger hospitals built in the past five or ten years. For example, in Chicago a 664-bed hospital was built for €541 million and in Atlanta a 402-bed hospital was built for €499 million. The cost here appears to be extraordinary, and rising on the basis of what we are hearing today in regard to the 700 extra claims from the contractor.

As I said, we are only 20% of the way into it.

I will move on to legal costs. There are obviously ongoing legal issues between BAM and the board regarding these 700 claims. Mr. Gunning has outlined some of the legal costs involved. On the situation relating to the first lockdown, the contractor could have been back on-site in mid-May but did not come back until mid-July. There is potentially a big claim and there is a dispute between the contractor and the board. How much is that estimated to come to, and is that added onto the 700 claims already mentioned at a cost of over €300 million? In other words and to put it very simply, is it €300 million plus whatever it takes to cover the compensation for phase 1 of the lockdown?