Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

To fill my time, the Comptroller and Auditor General has highlighted some very important areas where the issues which arose with this project should not have happened. While it began in 1998 spending only €1.3 million, it moved in stages to €4.8 million, €5.8 million, €8.6 million, €13 million, €31 million and €47 million, to a total of €117 million. They did not benchmark over this period as to whether value for money was being attained, or whether the aims were achievable. A number of difficult tasks were faced. I will not blame the staff of the core group who worked extremely hard. I will not state that all the consultants who had a part did a great job either, as they did not. I will not disagree on that point.

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