Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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The Deputy is correct. We had the board in before. If the tender is not nailed down and all of the work is not done in advance, there is a greater chance of then receiving claims afterwards. That is very much where we go back to in terms of where the fault lies. I have continuously raised the delays because the contractor was criticised for not having enough people on site and other such issues. If I recall correctly, because contracts are two-way, the evaluations will not be made until the end of the contract. The amount of substantiated claims is almost on a par with the original estimate for building the hospital, which was an underestimate, but at the same time it just shows the magnitude of what we are talking about here. Nobody doubts that this hospital is needed and that it will be very good when it is opened but we must ask whether it had to be that expensive.

I have a concern with the financing of the project, which I think will manifest this year. A certain amount has been agreed and allocated by the Government. We will have agreed that. If some of these claims are paid, we will get to a point where the hospital board will run out of money and if that is the case, I presume there will be a requirement for a Supplementary Estimate. Then we start getting into the territory where we have been given a date for completion. Will that be a date for opening if the funding is not available and the claims are still in dispute? There is a multiplicity of things with which we need to concern ourselves in regard to that as well. Some of that will manifest itself this year, given the amount of money that is left.