Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My last question is slightly left of field but it is important because we are discussing a project of this magnitude. Reference has been made to philanthropy, philanthropic funds and so on and I do not have the scope to ask about that, but the lion's share of this is public money. What are the board's plans in respect of social clauses? I introduced legislation last Friday on the issue of social clauses in public procurement contracts. As the witnesses are probably aware, this is something that has been done in Grangegorman, for example, and the Dublin docklands signed up to it, but it is very ad hocand it is not yet based in statute.
It would be remiss of me not to ask what the plans are, given that this is a big project in the heart of the inner city and that, like many inner-city communities, the area has very serious issues in terms of long-term unemployment, significant training and apprenticeship needs and so on. Could the witnesses tell the committee what their plans are to leverage the best that the public euro can get in terms of constructing the hospital but also in accordance with EU law, because we are aware that there are constraints and that it must be done in a particular way but it is still entirely possible to do? I am asking the witnesses what they will do about that.