Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The officials will provide me with information on the capital budget allocation for the national children's hospital for this year. With regard to the total final price, as the Chairman will be aware, there is an ongoing relationship between the board and the contractor. The contractor has submitted more than 1,000 substantiated claims. The reported value of those is in excess of €500 million. Obviously, that is not indicative of the outcomes and the board has very successfully fought those to date. The approved capital budget for the project is €1.433 billion and €924 million of that has been drawn down to date. With regard to the final cost to the State, there is a variability because of the uncertainty around the claims. Certainly from the State’s perspective, it is very reluctant to give final estimated figures because, as we would all appreciate, they would then just become targets for the contractor. As to whether the final cost will be in excess of €1.4 billion, we have all known for some time that this is true but as to the exact amount, it will depend in part on the outcomes of the awards for the judgments made on the various claims.