Where plans cost are submitted which exceed Departmental norms, it is a matter for a Design Team to make the necessary revisions to bring the cost plan into line.
At the commencement of the design process, it is made clear to Boards of Management and Design Teams that any failure to meet Departmental requirements throughout the architectural planning process can result in project delays.
Funding is not allocated to a project at the cost plan stage of architectural planning. The allocation of funding can only be considered for projects which have been approved to proceed to tender. A project cannot be considered to proceed to tender until the design process has been fully and correctly completed.
As the Deputy will be aware, the progression of all large scale capital projects from initial design stage through to the tender and construction phase is governed by the Band rating assigned to them under the published prioritisation for large scale building projects and the funding available to my Department.