Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am probably coming to this from a different angle. Having looked at similar projects abroad, there are two issues. One is that the main infrastructure has now been built and there is a major issue regarding disputes between the contractors and the project team. However, one of the issues that is out of the way relates to the substantial increase in building costs. We are lucky that the main infrastructure was in place before we ended up with a major increase in costs. If we had started this project last year, it would have increased by much more in a shorter timeframe. The problem we have relates to the various issues under dispute. My understanding from the previous discussion is that there are 700 or 800 issues and that these have been parked. When will they be dealt with and when can we get an overview of the real cost of those disputed items? When representatives from the Department were last before the committee, they more or less indicated that those items had been parked and that nothing will be done in respect of them for some time. We need to get clarification about when those matters will be dealt with and an indication as to the timeframe relating to when we will get results in respect of those issues. A substantial claim has been made but we will not know the extent of it until the Department starts to deal with the matters in question.