Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 27 April 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The position we are in now was put well by Mr. Parlon in that the arrangement is utterly dysfunctional and people are just going through contracts line by line to get opt-outs or trying to use variations as a means of staying in the game. The longer this goes on, the worse the situation will be. The reason we are having this conversation is that we want projects to be delivered. We all accept we are in a different space owing to inflation, and we all know the reasons for it. I accept that some of the issues were masked previously because we basically had zero inflation for a considerable period. Sometimes the State can regard obstacles as greater than they are. What sorts of contracts did we have previously? This State, like every other, has had a history of high inflation. That was taken into account. I assume it was on the basis of separating materials from the actual works done and the percentage built in, but-----

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