Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that there will always be external factors that will have an impact but many of the factors contributing to the cost spiral happened prior to Covid-19 and the invasion of Ukraine. I am assured by the Minister of State's comments that the building will be substantially completed by the end of 2023 and that we will have an opening date in 2024. He indicated to me that the overall and final cost should be of the order of €1.73 billion. I assume some of the costs mentioned relating to construction inflation and so on have been factored in. Is the Minister of State confident in saying that the final cost will not exceed that €1.73 billion and that we will definitely have the building open in 2024?