Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 May 2004
146 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of State contracts, projects or procurements in respect of which cost overruns have occurred in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13209/04]
View answerThe vast bulk of contracts in my Department are for school building projects. The policy of my Department in relation to these projects is to tender for them on a fixed price basis. This policy protects the Exchequer from cost overruns that may arise due to wage increases and construction price inflation during the course of a building project.
The Deputy will appreciate that building projects by their nature are not an exact science. Additional costs on projects may occur if unforeseen items arise during the course of a building project, for example, larger amount of rock to be excavated than was originally foreseen. Generally, a contingency sum of 2% of the contract value is included in contracts to deal with these type of unforeseen items that may arise during the course of a building project. If the Deputy wishes to request information on specific projects I will be happy to facilitate his request.
