Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I support the point made by Deputy Carthy about a one-day meeting. I think it will be more coherent if we do it that way, although I agree it should be done in two separate groups because there is an oversight aspect in respect of the Department, which we have to drill into. As for TII and the NTA, they both operate in the area of public transport but have separate remits.

There was a significant overrun in respect of the Sallins bypass and there are deficiencies in what was produced. The local authority is the ultimate body in that regard. My concern is that we will not capture some of the projects where there are problems. There will be no shortage of material for both of those. We should be considering both of them.

As regards health and the national paediatric hospital, we absolutely have to put that back on the agenda for some point in the first half of next year. Health representatives, whether from the HSE or the Department, would normally appear a few times a year before the committee. We did not get into much of the Vote at all. It was mainly the pent-up questions we had on the children's hospital.

A matter that is probably more for Mr. McCarthy is that of the Office of Public Works, OPW, and the site on Military Road in particular. I continue to have serious concerns in respect of that site and the selection process for the site. Are there any further insights? Will it crop up in an audit? If not, it may fall within our annual review of the OPW.