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

My answer, when the Deputy sees it in written format, will slightly fill out some of the points I have made to him. I am clear that with business cases being developed now, particularly in the aftermath of the great challenges and difficulties we had with the national children's hospital, I am seeing two features in place more and more. First, I am seeing the costs in place refer to projects after they have been tendered or with far greater certainty and clarity as to what the likely cost will be. The second factor I am seeing is more and more recognition, particularly for very big projects, of the complexity and risk and, because of this, the contingency cost. I am seeing more of this in place but I also believe we need to keep on challenging ourselves to see whether both these factors are as realistically in place as they need to be. This work is under way.

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