Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Annoyingly, Deputy Hourigan covered almost all of the questions I had intended to ask. I apologise if I come back to some of her questions, although I might come at them from a different angle. I want to first accept the ambition of this project across many different Departments, touching not just on technology but also on work practices. I have no doubt it is a significant undertaking. Equally, from the perspective of the Committee of Public Accounts, members of the public look to the committee to explain significant deviations from budget and timeline. Ms Murphy-Fagan would accept that the cost increase from €47 million to €115 million and the extension in the timeline from 2020 to 2025 are significant deviations on both grounds. I accept part of the explanation she has given but Deputy Hourigan asked if it was a failure by the NSSO to identify the complexity in tendering or a failure on the part of the supplier in its tendering process. I will come back to that question because I believe it is the crux in terms of the difference.