Mr. Tony Cunningham:

In fairness to everybody and to those we contacted, we outlined the position with the works - we did not even realise the scope of the works at that point - and that we required the money. The protocol was to go through the HSE. That was a given and we went through it at that early stage, so we would not have had a follow-up with everybody. That is the avenue we took. We engaged immediately. I met Department of Health officials and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath. They ultimately directed us to the HSE. The Deputies I met spoke about their support for the project and said they would communicate their support to the Minister of State as well. We have been working with the HSE since then.

The landscape has changed. Take the example of the national children's hospital and the funding required for that. Ms Keogh outlined the financial position in which we found ourselves. Pay restoration for the sector was a major issue and had a big impact on the association. That lobbying was taking place and was a pressure on the system, the HSE and the Department. There was the underfunding of services and the increasing costs due to regulation, including insurance alone. The external environment changed along the way but we had been following the recognised route for funding through the HSE for an organisation such as ours.