Clerk to the Committee:

On land swap, there is the ability to fulfil a contract, a commitment was entered into, and there was a doubt about it. What we are talking about is that where one enters a contract, one should make sure there are no doubts and have better co-ordination between Government agencies. Again we see this a lot where public bodies end up in court and they incur costs of approximately €1 million. That should not happen.

The other issue in this respect is better risk sharing. At the start of the process the developer had carried a lot of the risk, but it transferred back to the State because the house prices that had to be paid in 2012 were reflective of 2006. Those are just a few recommendations that carry across Departments about avoiding court cases and having better co-ordination.