John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Can the Secretary General not put himself in the shoes of the taxpayer and look at this €2.8 million and €1 million? He can explain it away all he likes but when I put this along side the history I have seen from the Department, whether before Mr. Purcell's time or not, going back to 2000, and the leases for properties that were never used, property we discussed earlier that is now subject to a court case, and this project, it all adds up to a shocking amount of money. That is my point. I understand the Department has a case to make in saying it had no money but I would have planned this differently if I had been there when the €2.8 million was being spent, along with the €1 million from Dublin City Council.