Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The degree to which Deputy Donnelly is preoccupied with the project would indicate to me that if he were on the other side of the table there would be an exclusion of certain elements of the facility. Obviously, the foundation would have to be put in place but some elements of the facility would be excluded. With that in mind, I issue the following warning. In a different political era I was involved in the development of a hospital which doubled in cost over a two year timeframe. There was a different Administration in office at the time and matters were handled differently then. Suffice to say, I believe that the project which the board has been tasked with delivering is major in terms of addressing the deficiencies in the fabric of our health services. I wish the board well and I hope it goes well. I hope that the project team do not get disheartened by the amount of negativity surrounding the project and the level of ridicule poked at it.