Enric Miralles and Donald Dewar have both been criticised during the Holyrood inquiry

John Home Robertson said an attack on the late first minister at the Holyrood Inquiry was "nauseating".

Liberal Democrat MSP Donald Gorrie had said Mr Dewar used the project to create a personal monument.

Nationalist MSP Linda Fabiani also criticised Mr Dewar and the late Catalan architect Enric Miralles.

The inquiry, before Lord Fraser, has been set up to look into the growing costs of the project.

Mr Home Robertson, who is convener of the Holyrood Progress Group, believes the probe has had a "significant impact" on the final stages of construction with key staff having to spend time digging out material needed for the inquiry.

'Intemperate and inaccurate'

The East Lothian MSP launched a defence of the progress group's record and the reasons why Mr Dewar chose the Holyrood site and architect.

Last week, Mr Gorrie caused an outcry with his attack on Mr Dewar.

Labour politicians condemned his comments as "intemperate" and "inaccurate" and Mr Gorrie later refused to apologise for his criticism.

Mr Home Robertson said it was not possible to complete the building on time and suggested even the archangel Gabriel "would have struggled" to co-ordinate parts of the team.

He said: "A degree of control has been achieved. It could have been far worse, quite frankly.

"But it was a tall order to complete this building, with this contract on this site."

During her evidence, Ms Fabiani said Mr Dewar was wrong to drive ahead with plans for the new parliament before MSPs were elected.

The basic design was chosen, the site was chosen, there was really nothing left for MSPs to do except tinker around Linda Fabiani SNP MSP

She also criticised former Presiding Officer Sir David Steel as well as the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB), which he chaired.

She said: "The SPCB and Sir David could have been a lot more circumspect and they could have been a lot more bullish and said 'we recognise that we have to take this on but we are not doing it until we understand it'."

She questioned information she received from Sir David in August 1999, two months after a parliamentary vote to press ahead with the project.

She had argued during the June 1999 debate that MSPs should have postponed the project in order to get to grips with it.

Sir David estimated the cost of postponing or scrapping the project at �14m but ignored any income from selling the site "or any other potential savings", she said.

"This struck me as disingenuous," Ms Fabiani added.

Ms Fabiani blamed the cost increases on the fact that so many decisions were taken prior to hand over rather than on problems with the design by the controversial architect Mr Miralles.

Ms Fabiani was giving evidence on Monday

The MSP said elected members were given a "fait accompli", suggesting Mr Dewar wanted to retain full control of the project.

Ms Fabiani, who has been a member of the Holyrood Progress Group since it began, told the inquiry that the man brought in to control the cost of the project was "doomed to fail" from the start.

Project director Alan Ezzi quit the job after seven months in the post.

Ms Fabiani said: "I think it was really unrealistic to attempt to have just one person coming in to correct all the mistakes already made and I don't think it was ever going to work.