Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a lot of oversight of the process. I understand why we have the public spending code. The one with which we are dealing came about after the issue with the national children's hospital. While I know why it is there and I know we need to ensure value for money for the State, there is a balance in terms of how long it can take to build new beds, operating theatres and MRI scanners. In my view, it takes too long to go from a Government decision to putting a new MRI machine in this hospital or 100 extra beds in that hospital or to building a new hospital. The balance has become skewed in terms of business cases and strategic reviews.