David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will get to at least one former Minister who did raise the prospect of an alternative site, but we will stick with the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach for a moment. The Minister is right in saying that they raised concerns about details, but they were talking about the ownership of the site. How is it the case that the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group issued a statement a couple of days after those interventions by the Tánaiste to say that, from its perspective, that it had what it felt there was an agreement with the Department that the lease option was the way forward. It also indicated that there was no discussion between the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group and the Department with regard to the purchasing of the site and yet we had the Tánaiste in the Dáil saying that should be one of the options. What is going on? People are asking the question and I am putting it to the Minister. Were there discussions on the ownership of the site with the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group prior to the Tánaiste saying in the Dáil that should be one of the options?