Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy was present for the Dáil debate on this matter last night. We explained why we had commissioned the PwC report and what work PwC could do to help us understand what went wrong with this project. The Deputy disagreed with us, but I pointed out to him that the PwC report went through the various elements that went wrong and what we could learn from it. The report made the point that the level of complexity involved was very significant and that, in light of the various options that were open to the Government at the time that this issue developed, there was no assurance that we could have done this any more cheaply or quickly. The Deputy and I differ on both views. He said so last night and I respect his expertise in and knowledge of this area, but I assure him that, based on the work we did across that period, I have formed the view that, had we made the decision to retender or stop the project, the difficulties we would be facing now would be even greater.

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