Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I see now that the Department is starting to grow concerned that it does not know how much the hospital will cost. We have also been concerned about this, but we were told not to ask questions about the cost or when it would be completed. Most of us just wanted to ensure there were controls on costs, which is why I asked about the triggers. I reckon the board will run out of money next year and there will have to be a supplementary budget to cover the cost overrun. Are we keeping control of costs if we are not lodging claims? The contractor has no problem lodging claims, but there are no claims coming from the other direction. If this hospital had been finished on time, construction would not have needed to deal with a time of high inflation. It would have been open by now. The inflation relates to materials, which would largely have been used. That the hospital has not been completed impacts on the overall cost.