Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have written seeking that the Minister appear before the committee because there was political sign-off on this project. The Taoiseach is well aware of the project because the go-ahead for it was given while he was the Minister for Health. It would be of use for the committee to investigate the checks and balances that are in place for other projects as well as this one from which we can learn a great deal. There are often significant overruns in capital State projects. Other countries are far better at managing the cost of such projects. There is a process issue in regard to the management of these projects which we need to investigate. There is a section of a Department which deals with procurement but that relates to buying things rather than dealing with matters such as the roll-out of infrastructure. Local authorities have been responsible for a significant number of positive projects through the years because they built up an expertise in how to tender. The expertise is not in place for once-off or occasional procurement such as a national children's hospital, which, obviously, is a hundred year project. There is a very significant process or oversight gap in that regard and this is an example of it.