Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá sé sin suimiúil. Yesterday, the Minister might have seen that the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications heard serious concerns from representative bodies of construction companies. They spoke of the need to reform public works contracts for the construction of transport infrastructure. They said many contractors were having to pull out due to the inflation in the cost of building materials and other issues the Minister outlined. The contracts they enter into are often fixed price. Someone may have entered into a contract years ago and is now locked into a price, having based the estimates for material on prices from two years ago. We know that much has happened in the last two years and that there has been a sharp rise in inflation. Has the Minister considered the introduction of variation clauses in new or existing contracts? Does he have any views on that?

See this speech in context