Mr. Maurice Mullen:

Having listened to the various comments - I will go through each of them - I wish to make it clear that I have confidence in the director of the Coast Guard and in the chief surveyor, who is the head of the Marine Survey Office. They are two hard-working and admirable officers. I want to make that very clear. Much of what has been said about them at the meeting does not represent the sequence of events that took place in the recent past. I want to make that clear from the outset.

I will go through the issues sequentially but there is some overlap and I can pull them together. I wish to make two quick points regarding Deputy Healy-Rae's comments before I go into the detail. At no stage was the equipment stored in the Minister's constituency and used in that way. It was placed in Blanchardstown per se because that is one of our main store areas and it was for no other reason. It has been there since the Minister was appointed.

The Minister has not indicated a preference at this stage. I want to make that clear. Reference was made to a suggestion that somehow or other the Minister has a specific view. The Department engaged in this process to make a case to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and as part of the overall development under the Croke Park agreement. The Minister has not been involved in any part of the process with regard to what model might or might not be used.