Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I again thank Senator Gallagher for raising this matter and for clearly putting across the issues that are at play in all of our counties and certainly in the Border region. I will certainly take a look at what he has said is happening across the Border. To be very clear, while this is not my direct area of responsibility, I will raise this matter with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and his Department. He would have liked to be here himself but just could not make it. I acknowledge that what Senator Gallagher is saying is key. We are experiencing very significant increases in construction inflation and challenges as a result of the Covid pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine. As outlined earlier, the Minister's office introduced amendments to the provisions in the public works contracts in January 2022 for future tenders, which should be of assistance. The changes implemented in January have provided a degree of mitigation of material price increases but, as the Senator noted, there are still issues with contracts that were awarded prior to January this year, going back over the last two or three years or more. More recently, specific issues with fuel costs and supply chain disruptions have also been important. The Senator has asked me for a timeline. I cannot provide one just yet but the Minister is considering the options available to address the ongoing increases in construction inflation and I have no doubt that he will make those decisions quite quickly. I will ask him to come back to the Senator as quickly as he possibly can or we could also have another discussion on the issue here in the House. The Senator will receive a formal response from the Minister very soon.