Mr. David Gunning:

I am neither providing any definitive guidance on costs at this meeting nor agreeing with the Deputy's €2 billion. I want to be definitive about that.

The Deputy will be aware that when the sum of €1.433 billion was approved, there were also a number of items that were excluded from that such as inflation, which we have talked about at these meetings in the past.

There are a number of cost areas that arise. Delay is very expensive. With 14 months of delay, there are the NPHDB's direct costs, the costs of our advisers and the development board. We look at the cost of claims defence. We have a large number of claims and we have put a robust system in place to defend those claims. There is a cost to that. We see, as time has gone on, some changes and increases in the provisional sums that were considered under the scope of the contract, primarily down to the fact that as there are delays some of these items, whether they are equipment or whatever, tend to increase in price.

We have construction and risk contingency in here, given the number of claims and inflation. A view can be taken on inflation and currently it is trending below the 4%, which is the magic number for us. If it is below 4%, it is the contractor's problem. If it is above 4%, the State has a responsibility. In the current environment, where we have a lot of instability and volatility in the construction market with the supply of materials, the forecast for the next 12 months is rather unclear on inflation. It is difficult to provide price certainty and to be definitive with the committee. I would like the committee to understand the challenges in getting to that definitive number.