David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I know it happens in other projects, but given the high profile of this project - and even though Mr. Gunning wants to talk about the other issues associated with the hospital, including the wonderful additional capacity it will provide for children - unfortunately there is some controversy, whether the development board likes it, around the costs that is not going to go away. People will be a bit surprised to hear that long after the hospital is opened and providing services, we are still likely to be locked into a process of contractual disputes around costs. It is accepted that the costs will probably be in excess of the €1.4 billion that the Minister has outlined but our job is to hold the Minister to account and the Minister's job is to ensure that we have cost control because ultimately, if there are additional costs, the taxpayer has to pay for them. There is no indication here as to what the amount will be or how long it is going to take. It will surprise people that long after the hospital is built, we are still likely to be locked in disputes, High Court challenges and cost differences. I accept that Mr. Gunning cannot tell us when that is going to be resolved but I suspect - and I do not think I will be proved wrong - that we are talking about years rather than months.