Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Let me just get it straight. Mr. Gunning has had a long history in this and in fairness to him, he has given very direct answers, I do not think there is a snowball's chance of the October deadline being met next year. In fairness to Mr. Gunning, he actually conditioned it in his commentary and in what he wrote, to protect himself. I think he is right. I do not think there is a snowball's chance of that happening.

I also think that when it comes to Ms Hardiman's work, which I read thoroughly - it is very comprehensive – I am very excited about some of it. The e-health part is something that I have been roaring and shouting about for years. I just do not think that the handover line and handover positioning is going to be at the stage that will allow this to happen, so we will not have this six months after that. I would even be surprised if this is up and fully operational in 2025 at all, based on the evidence that the witnesses have given us here. I am not saying that is their fault.

Let us just get some facts for the public. This project is going well north of €2 billion. That is what I would expect and it could possibly be even closer to €2.5 billion. I do not think anyone disagrees with that. We also have a situation where the Government is going to have a memo outlining in ballpark terms what that is, at the end of this month or early next month. Is that correct?