Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Can I ask a simple question? Is profit included in the bid process? I presume BAM or anybody else would require a profit margin. Are these things examined? Does the Minister look at how its bid might compare with what the Government would do if the State did this work directly and did not require the taking of a profit and whether that would work out cheaper and better?

When bids come in and, as in this case, the lowest bid is €170 million less than the next bid, does anyone say that perhaps we should probably take a look at this? If it was a difference of €10 million, €15 million or €20 million, one might think there was not too much to look at but when the difference between the lowest and the next highest bid is €170 million, somebody might suggest scrutinising in detail all the line items to see whether this bid was credible.

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