Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

Public Accounts Committee

National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: 2019 Financial Statement (Resumed)

9:30 am

Mr. David Gunning:

Substantiated claims are then issued for determination. There is a process of substantiation and some iteration around the claims process as clarity is brought to each individual claim. The number of substantiated claims is 749. That is the number the ER could pass judgment on. That is the number submitted with all the details provided. The number of claims that the ER has determined, and this is an independent determination process, is 631. The next figure to note, which relates to the number of ER claims determined that are disputed and referred to the project board and conciliation, is 549.

Of the 631 claims, 549 have moved into the conciliation process. There is a formal referral to conciliation required as part of that process. In terms of what has emerged from the conciliation process, the number of disputes that are agreed and no longer in dispute management is nine of that 541. To return to the start, there are 906 claims. In regard to the nine disputes, the value in terms of the impact on the contract sum of those nine is €2.9 million, inclusive of VAT. The purpose of this table was to clarify these particular issues and to also set out some of the process. I hope that is helpful.