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

The witnesses might forward the details of that project to us as well.

The point I was making earlier is that, at some stage, projects become unviable or no longer provide value for money. The bike shelter is in that territory. A project that was important, well meant, necessary - all those things - got to a point where it just cost so much that it was not viable. My worry is that the same kind of lack of a ceiling that existed with the bike project also exists when it comes to modular housing.

I cannot imagine how a project is presented to Cabinet without knowing the sites involved in the first instance, particularly as we know that a site is often the biggest part of a project. I do not know how an estimate was presented to Cabinet for a project when the sites were not known. That is my first point. Second, when sites were presented, they invariably involved different challenges and costs. There must have been a ceiling whereby the OPW said that a site was not viable beyond that point. Mr. Conlon informed Deputy Farrell that the senior officials groups was informed that there would be a challenge to provide these on a cost-effective basis. Earlier in the year, he informed me - I cannot remember whether it was here or at the housing committee - that this would come in roughly in the range of the market value of a traditional home. The rapid builds were coming in at around the same price, namely at a significant cost. Where is the red flag? Where is the viability ceiling? Where is the point at which or process by means of which the OPW states that no more can be spent on something because it is not viable? Is there a process in that regard?