Results 4,061-4,080 of 6,347 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: That is a figure I did not have. To clarify, Mr. Gunning is saying the 2021 figure is an additional cost of €17.89 million as a result of inflation.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Yes, I am familiar with it.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Has any estimate been done for 2022?

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: And it may be more than that.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I accept that, yes.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: So €30.4 million in one projected scenario and I accept-----

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I accept that. Then on payments to date, Mr. Gunning is saying those are €17.8 million.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I am sorry, €21.16 million. That then explains why the board has only reduced the capital commitments by €110 million.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: When you bring those two figures together, and as I said, I think it is echoed in the statements around the capital commitments where the board reduces it - not by the whole €165 million but only by €110 million. The inflationary impact of the project to date for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 could be as high as €51 million.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: The figures around this project are always eye-watering-----

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: -----but that figure alone - there are capital projects that Mr. Tierney deals with that are €51 million all on their own.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: That is the figure the board is expecting. The question then is how did we get to that point. The figure inserted into the contract was 4%. How did the board arrive at that figure?

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Was the contractor-----

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: -----a source of information when the board was sourcing that figure or did the board independently source it?

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: The buck seems to have been passed to Mr. Devine, so why do I not ask him?

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: All right.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: And it would be paid 100% by the State. There was no sharing of that risk above the 4%.

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I am conscious of this from my experience on the housing committee. Inflation is having an impact on a whole range of areas, so I accept it is a factor the board must deal with. My question is, could it have been predicted when the contract was set at 4% that the State would be 100% liable for everything above 4%? Was that a reasonable burden to put on the State?

Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2020 (16 Jun 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: But the contract was set by the board.