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

I am asking the question directly because some of these claims Mr. Gunning has outlined relate to delay and timelines. He has outlined, and I clearly understand, that as time passes further inflation kicks in, but there is also the question of loss of time and being off-site for unforeseen events like Covid. My point is that Mr. Gunning, as the chief officer, is telling me that he assumes they were. Surely the board should be aware of this and should be dealing with it as part of both the claims process and its defence. Surely it is part of defending the taxpayer's interest that it would be aware. The point I am clearly making is that it may be that the company or companies operating on the site were in receipt of the temporary wage subsidy scheme or the employment wage subsidy scheme payments from the taxpayer during those periods, and I am not arguing they should not have been, and there are now claims in for extra payments due to that time lag and inflation as a consequence. Surely Mr. Gunning, as the chief officer, and the board should be aware of that.