Mr. Peter Walsh:

We believed it was important to acknowledge that what was said previously was heard. Changes were made and a provision that reflected the impact of inflation was included in the public works contract, which has helped. We have had derogations from the use of public works contracts on few projects, the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy project being the most recent, and a very significant level of interest from contractors to seek shortlisting for that project. They expressed interest and sought to be shortlisted. It is the first competition we have had for a while where we have had good competition. It will be interesting to see how that develops.

I strongly believe, as do my colleagues, that an even fairer share of risk-taking than is contemplated in the public works contract is a better way to go. If we insist on transferring all the risk onto the contractor, we will get fewer and fewer contractors to take that on. We saw it in the Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge project not that long ago, where one of the parties to the joint venture pulled out because its parent company undertakes a very clear overview process in respect of risk and risk transfer. The company just decided it could not take it on and walked away. Thankfully, we were left with one contractor that had properly concluded the competitive process, and we were able to get Government approval and award the contract. It is going ahead but it very nearly did not. We should take that risk transfer element seriously and look at what is a fair way of sharing the risk.

The other aspect of it is that while we have not really seen the outcome of changes at An Bord Pleanála yet, the time projects are taking to go through the planning process is an issue.

I appreciate that people feel changes to the planning Bill will address it and I am aware that it is a very voluminous attempt at reforming the legislation. We still see significant elements of concern within the proposed new Bill and will be making submissions as part of the consultation process around that.