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

The Minister's predecessor, Deputy Michael McGrath, prior to him becoming the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, stated that when it came to capital projects there was a clear pattern of projects costing more than the agreed contract price. He said that we need to know why so many projects end up costing taxpayers far more than planned. The Minister knows that when it comes to cost overruns on capital projects, we are largely in the dark. We are aware the cost overruns can arise a result of poor planning on the part of the contracting authority or the contractor, litigation arising from contractual disputes, poor performance in the management of risks, and so on. We do not know how such things impact on individual projects or in the aggregate. Will the Minister commit to begin the process of collecting this kind of data so we have a better overview?

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