Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Secretary General. I take no offence at the comments he made outside, as reported by the media. As far as I am concerned, I am paid well enough to take a bit of grief and, frankly, so is Mr. Watt. With that mind, I ask him not to mind me in being a little abrupt because I have only ten minutes in which to get through my questions.

Has the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform taken such a passive approach to other capital projects in the past? Mr. Watt saw fit to mention the Collooney-Castlebaldwin bypass project, which is great news for me and Sligo, but in terms of its cost, it is in the ha'penny place in comparison with what we are talking about.