Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We have a collaborative system of working with the construction companies and their representative bodies. We want to avoid an adversarial situation; that does not work for anybody. We cannot end up in court or in disputes. With that in mind, I meet representatives of the Construction Industry Federation every quarter and I am in regular contact with people such as Sean Downey in order that I can ensure their concerns about how construction contracts with the State will be taken into account, that we will have a practical framework for co-operation and that our projects will be delivered on time. That is under constant review. At the moment, a working group of representative bodies of employers, including the Construction Industry Federation, is reviewing the guidelines for public construction contracts.

We absolutely need to work with the industry. We do not want to be in an adversarial position and we are not in one. We are in constant communication, as recently as within the past week.

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