Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My next question might not be a fair one, but I ask that one of the witnesses answer it as well as he or she can. Ms Mulvihill said that the new oversight group will function as an early warning system to prevent shocks, which brings to mind what happened with the national children's hospital last autumn. I presume part of the group's remit relates to capital expenditure. When the escalating costs of the hospital project became apparent, somebody in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said, "Hang on, we cannot run our lives getting shocks like this every so often; we need our foot in there." Whoever that was did the right thing. We are always talking about the need for joined-up thinking in government. If the witnesses think there is a political innuendo in my question, they do not need to address that. My point is that in light of what happened with the national children's hospital last year and what happened with the Supplementary Estimates, I fully endorse the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in doing that.