Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will not ask Mr Buckley to comment on the children's hospital project, but I am trying to use his knowledge to improve our understanding of how things work. In the case of that contract - I am sure it applies to others - a guaranteed maximum price is set and there are certain exclusions which can give rise to an increase in price above the guaranteed maximum price. One of the exclusions is national construction inflation running above 4% post-July 2019. If Mr. Buckley is telling us that construction inflation is running at 11% to 12%, we are looking at an excess of 7% to 8% on what has been built into the contract. If that level of inflation is sustained for a number of years, one is looking at a significant escalation. Is that a fair way of looking at it?