Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, Chairman, for allowing this and I thank the witnesses. It has been a gruelling session, so I will keep my questions as concise as possible and remove any commentary.

The first is a legal question regarding the proposed 299-year lease. Under clause 6.5 of the lease, the HSE loses its right of first refusal to acquire the premises on the later of 20 years after the HSE, as tenant, complies with its obligations under the sixth schedule, which refers to the building covenant, or 30 years from the date of the lease. Why would the HSE forgo this right so soon into a 299-year lease under this clause? Should the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group decide to sell the premises, will that open the HSE and this model to an unseen vulnerability? There may be a simple legal response to that, but it is one of those matters that leaps out to the layperson when trying to digest all these complex documents.

My second question is for the Minister. There is no doubt that this model is bespoke. Whether one is in favour of it or against it, it is a bespoke model with the golden share element. If a hypothetical similar arrangement were to come down the line somewhere else and if a future Minister for Health were to ask the current Minister if he would recommend this model to be used again, given his experience, would he recommend it? I know he has confidence in this particular one but, as a model in the future, would he tell the future Minister to run a mile away from it and to go about it a different way as this was too much trouble legally and politically and that there will always be some concerns and risks inherent in it? I would appreciate an answer to that.