Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for having to step out of the meeting; it was unavoidable. My first questions relate to media reports that there would be a separate entrance for the private section of the hospital. I am interested to know where that came from because clearly it came from someone looking at the plans. In the same vein, as soon as this was spoken about there was a raft of people rushing in to explain that the money for any private medicine would be recouped. I have asked the Minister and I am asking our guests now if that is worked out in any structured way. Is there a calculation for what the private facility is going to cost? If we do not know how much it is going to cost, we cannot know how much we are going to recoup. We cannot say with any confidence that we are going to recoup the money that will be spent on any private section of the hospital without knowing how much it is going to cost. If our guests know how much it is going to cost, I am interested in hearing what they have to say. I am also interested in the structured arrangements that will be put in place to ensure that the money is returned to the Exchequer. Clearly, notwithstanding the attempts by some on the committee to reframe this as something other than a massive overspend or underestimation - whichever way we put it, ultimately it is going to cost significantly more - the idea that contrary to the spirit and the letter of Sláintecare we are now going to be stacking private care into a public hospital is very disturbing for many people. Perhaps someone might outline how that is going to work.