Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is so frustrating. There are reports of the spiralling costs of the national children's hospital. Judging by this piece of correspondence, the Department is blatantly refusing to engage with the committee, citing commercial sensitivities and asserting that its focus is on completing the project. Optimistically, this hospital will not open until at least 2024.

Come that time, I fully expect the Department will tell us that it cannot comment because a legal case or negotiations are ongoing. This is a complete lack of engagement in a new development. It seems to serve no other purpose, and the Department wants to kick the can down the road thus avoiding any responsibility for, what I believe to be, gross incompetency. In the end, it will likely be measured in billions of taxpayers' money. Will the committee write to the Department, ahead of the hearing on 16 December, specifically asking it to outline the distinction between negotiations and commercial sensitivities that exist today versus the updated costs it previously provided to the committee?