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

There is a proposal that we request information and that we ask members of the hospital board and representatives from the Department of Health before the committee. The information we are requesting relates to a timeline for progressing work and details on construction inflation. It really worries me that the hospital board and Department of Health do not know at this time - on 21 September 2021, so far into the project - what will be the final cost. It is a major concern. Is that what they are telling us? We need to know that.

If these people are not prepared to divulge the information to us, who are representing the public and the taxpayers who are paying for this, we should ask if they know that information at this point. I suggest to the committee that we request that information from those parties in the first instance. We must know the cost of construction inflation. At this point we should seek the final cost and if they are not prepared to give it, we should ask whether they are aware of that final cost. It is really concerning that the Committee of Public Accounts and perhaps even the Government do not know the cost.