Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct that one of the reasons the children's hospital project has increased in cost is construction inflation. It is not the only reason but it is certainly one of the major ones as to why the cost is much higher than we had anticipated. The contract provides that further claims can be made by the contractor if construction inflation exceeds 4% but we will have to see if that arises in the period ahead.

The Minister for Health will make a statement to the Dáil this afternoon. I am not going to pre-empt the statement that he will make but he has spent nine hours in front of two committees answering questions on this matter. The Secretary General of his Department, Mr. Breslin, has done the same. If Deputy Micheál Martin has a chance to read over those transcripts and study the questions that the Minister and the Secretary General were asked by Members of the House, particularly Fianna Fáil Deputies, he will see that they were very thorough. The Minister and the Secretary General answered all of those questions to the best of their ability already.

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