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

I thank Mr. Tierney and Mr. Gunning for their opening statements, although I echo the comments of the Vice Chairman. Everyone in this room is very busy. Nobody is more or less busy than anybody else. In terms of programming the witnesses' preparation for these meetings, many of us finished late last night and there was a very tight window for the first time we got a chance to read some of the documents in advance of this morning. I ask Mr. Gunning not just to examine it but also to deliver on that promise. Without the information, we are asking questions in the dark and if we are doing that, we are not asking the right questions and, by the same token, we are not focusing on the matters that are important.

I will move on. Mr. Tierney and Mr. Gunning both spoke about the hugely positive elements of the project - the fantastic work that has taken place and also the benefits this will have. There is no doubt about that and I expect the health committee will be able to discuss that with the witnesses at length. Our only parameters are to evaluate the board as a project development board. There are only two factors that are important in managing a project development and they are whether it is on time and on budget. They are our two parameters. We know and trust that the project is going to be good and that all the benefits will be there, but our job is to evaluate whether it was on time and on budget. Otherwise we would be saying over time that every small emperor who built an obscenely expensive palace was a really great project manager, and we know that is not true. Nothing I will say takes away from the positivity of the project, but our role is to adjudicate the budgetary side so I will focus on that in terms of both the date and the cost.

Every family in the country is trying to grapple with inflation at present, and I expect the witnesses are no different. I will focus on the inflationary elements first. Do the witnesses have a financial assessment at this point of what the inflationary impact for the remainder of the project will cost in terms of additional claims?