Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Regarding major infrastructural projects and the PPP system, we have evidence from the Committee of Public Accounts of cost over-runs totalling €9 billion. When one talks to designers, architects and builders, one sees that the pricing element seems very much askew. In his capacity as chairman of the infrastructure sub-committee, where does the Taoiseach feel that the mistake is being made? Is it at the architectural or design stage that the costs are underestimated? It appears that is where the fault lies regarding the determination of the costs in the first instance. The pricing element included does not appear to be relevant to the outcome. Builders nowadays can build practically anything and anywhere from an engineering perspective, but the cost indicators appear to be very much askew at an earlier stage. Perhaps the Taoiseach might comment on that, based on his experience of projects that have literally gone very much off the rails.

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