Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 16 December 2021

Public Accounts Committee

2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Health

9:30 am

Mr. Robert Watt:

I thank the Deputy for her question. We have provided very detailed notes and briefing on this matter. I know the committee has considered it several times. We have set out clearly what we think the estimate is for the hospital and the related satellite and integration works. We have also identified that there is a significant risk, given the delay in the project. It is delayed, as the Deputy is aware, likely into 2024 now, and that will increase the costs of the project. There are ongoing issues in respect of construction inflation. There will be further claims relating to contract stipulations in the context of inflation above 4.5% in 2019. There are ongoing claims and disputes between the contractor and the board. There is uncertainty in respect of what the final figure is. We have set that out. We do not at this stage have any update on the figure we have put in the public domain, but there is heightened risk in respect of that estimate for the reasons I set out in the note that I forwarded to the committee and which we outlined before.