Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The role of the Secretary General of my Department is to provide advice for the Government on decisions made. It is up to me to make decisions and be politically accountable for them. That is what I am doing and what I will do in the future. That is the way our system of government and our representative democracy works. In the publication of documents there is engagement pretty much on every big decision we make. As this decision is unique, the information is published and available for Deputy Lahart to see.

The Deputy asked what caused me to form a different view from that of my Department. The first reason is the array of benefits not captured in the cost-benefit analysis and the value they will have for citizens and the economy in the future. The second is that, having looked at every other option, none would deliver against the objective of achieving 100% coverage, while giving a guarantee of lower cost. Deputy Broughan was looking for Project Z, but that is why I made the decision.