Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I accept that, but when we think about how to have a collaborative industry in which contractors and the contracting authorities will work together, we need to look at what has been established in other jurisdictions such as the UK, where there is the new engineering contract, NEC. In that case, there is risk-sharing and more is got out of the contract.

The Minister of State referred to building information modelling, BIM. That is for the large contractors, but what about the small contractors that build one-off houses, an extension or a housing adaptation? They have to comply with the same criteria within the public works contracts. It is unfair and totally wrong that this contract amounts to an albatross around the necks of contractors, the construction industry and the public money going into it. A lot more money is being spent but, in my view, we are not getting the jobs built on time or to budget. The cost is being masked by the arbitration and the claims that go on within contracts. We need to look at this in a more realistic way.

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