Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I completely understand that and we have been trying to be fair all along in this regard. The behaviour of the contractor right from the word go, in terms of not having sufficient staff on the site, not providing the substantially completed programme, all of that will only change if there are sanctions and funding is withheld. In any contract there are always opportunities, because a contract is a two-way process. There are always opportunities for sanction if things are not completed. For example, this contract was supposed to deliver a hospital by a particular date. It was not delivered and after that, inflation took over, adding to the cost. Yet the State is picking up on the over-4% building inflation rate. I maintain that we should be looking at a counterclaim at this stage and I think we have been through that before.

There have to be sanctions to ensure this is delivered as quickly as possible, albeit well behind the schedule.

On a separate issue, Mr. Gunning says that €71 million remains in the current overall capital budget of €1.43 billion for the build. How far will that take us?