The appointment of a new contractor to the Eyre Square redevelopment scheme early next month will see the cost of the project - which is already running over budget - rise even higher.
City manager Joe McGrath has confirmed the three contractors who have tendered for the project have all submitted price increases on the original budget drawn up two years ago.
The project has already run over budget from €6.3 million to €9 million since work started and the cost is continuing to rise.
The manager has assured city councillors that the construction work at Eyre Square is still on track to be completed by the end of next March.
No work has been carried out on the project since Samuel Kingston Construction ceased site work at the start of the summer.
Mr McGrath said talks with a contractor were at an advanced stage and work was likely to resume at the beginning of next month.
However, each of the contractors who tendered for the project - Carey Developments, Coffey Developments and SIAC Construction - had increased their costings.
"We have had detailed discussions with one contractor through August and September including the workload and time-scale, and talks are at an advanced stage.
"They have all submitted price increases. We have been negotiating with a start early next month and a completion date of March 31st although nothing is finalised," he explained.
The city manager's statement came following queries from councillors Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green) and Padraig Conneely (FG) about the lack of information made available to councillors on the debacle.
Mr Ó Brolcháin hit out at the lack of proper public account-ability involved. He said councillors were not party to how much more money the tendering contractors were looking for and this was another example of decisions being made "behind closed doors".
He called for a review of the way the public procurement process is put in place.
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