Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before I return to Ms Hardiman, one of the areas that I questioned Mr. Barry on previously is cost savings. This significant overrun has serious implications for the healthcare system and other sectors. Moving away from a better way of ensuring that the diagnostics equipment is up to speed is one of these. Medical care in the building is being sacrificed because of the overrun.

On the previous occasion Mr. Barry was before the committee he suggested that the best way to manage the risks and costs was to look at minimising further additional overspends. He was new to the job but when a member of the public, who is ultimately paying for this hospital, looks at the hospital, they will see a beautiful glass doughnut, curved in every conceivable way. None of us live in houses that are curved glass doughnuts and no private sector company constructs its building as a beautiful curved glass doughnuts because it is not a good way to maximise the space available and because glass and curves and so on are the most expensive way to construct buildings.

Has Mr. Barry had time to consider that the design and approach to this building is incredibly expensive? The architecture involved means that massive capital expenditure is needed, which other buildings do not require. There are opportunities to make changes that could drive down the costs to ensure, for example, that appropriate funding goes into the medical services and equipment.