Mr. Phelim Devine:

I suppose the public works contract has to comply with European law, which says that one cannot specify products and systems. One has to allow for that competition. One cannot really get away from that. That is the same for all public works contracts. The size of the hospital means that there is complexity when you bring all those systems and components together. With the best will in the world, there is a design intent that has a ceiling, a floor, a system, a facade and whatever, and there is a room specification. When you bring it together, ultimately things have to change. A component might be slightly bigger. There might be a slightly bigger box-out when you co-ordinate all the mechanical and electrical services. If that means more partition, that has to be paid for. This happens all the time in public works contracts. The level of change that the employer's representative has determined so far - €23 million, and with settled disputes €27 million - is of the kind of level that is normal. That is normal in a public works contract for these particular elements. While this is an employer-designed contract, the contractor is responsible for a huge amount of design such as the facade and many of the mechanical and electrical systems. It has fire-proofing responsibilities. It is not just about the employer. The employer and the contractor must come together and collaborate and that does cause changes. Some of the changes are initiated by the contractor and some by the employer.