John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and witnesses. The HSE board got some publicity today. Two voices demurred but there are 12 members of the board. The bottom line is the board has approved this, regardless of why and how many members did so. We have heard the views of Fergus Finlay as to why he supported it, but we did not get the view of the other eight or nine members as to why they supported it. We got the views of the two who demurred and I respect them and thank them for making their submission to the committee. For people watching, it is important to state the board of the HSE supports the move.

To give some of background on myself, an ad hoccross-party group was established last year with some members from parties, including, from my party, me and one or two colleagues. It was set up based on those people who had concerns about the move to the St. Vincent's hospital site.

I was a member of that group so that was where I was coming from. I had concerns. The time, energy and detailed interrogation of all the issues involved between last year and this year have been incredibly valuable.

I supported repeal of the eighth amendment and strongly supported women's right to choose and investment of trust in women to make the best decisions regarding their own health and bodies. It is important to state that. The Minister will agree that if we were starting today, everybody would want this hospital built on public land with public money but this process did not begin today. It began in 2013 and he inherited it two years ago. Will he give us a brief two- or three-minute summary of what he inherited and where he has taken it to?