Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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This committee and the Irish public generally are being insulted, quite frankly, by the Department and the board regarding this project. We are now being told that the project approval cost is €1.73 billion. The response from the Secretary General, however, indicates that several items are not included in this investment figure, including construction inflation, which we know, unfortunately, is substantial now. I refer as well to the impact of Covid-19, statutory changes and any changes in scope resulting in healthcare policy changes and employment orders. Regarding those last three points, those are matters that will be decided by the Government and the Department. Therefore, they are matters over which we would have some control. Also mentioned as not being included are risks such as Brexit, local supply chains and shortages of construction raw materials.

Is the Secretary General telling us that the Department has not factored in or assessed what the completed cost will be in the context of the combined impact of all those factors? We have not asked for, and no one is suggesting that we get, a definitive final price. We know that fluctuations in costs and factors outside the control of everyone involved in this project will affect the final price. There must be an assessment of how much that will be. It is unacceptable that information on the specific questions raised by the Chair, as well as the wider implications, is not being shared with the committee, which has a job to do on behalf of the Irish public concerning public finances.

There is no reference in the letter that I can see, unless I missed it, to the KPMG report that has formed the backdrop to many other items of correspondence and responses we have seen previously. There has been a refusal to publish that report or even to provide it to the committee. If we are writing back to the Department, we should again ask for a copy of that report, even on a confidential basis, if that is what is required. There must be clarity on this matter. As I said, this is a scenario where no one believes the final cost of this project is going to fall below €2 billion. I fear the final prices could be significantly above the €2 billion mark. All of us involved in future planning have a right to have a sense of what the final cost of this project will be.

I wish to raise a second issue concerning the Department in question. Can I do that now?