David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all know it takes time to deliver, but it should not take as long as it is taking. I refer even to the response that I have just gotten in relation to the constraints of the public spending code. We have to call out the feet-dragging on this issue, as far as I can see. There are no excuses as to why these projects are not further down the line, given the commitments that have been made by Ministers, as well as the fact that everybody on this committee wants these hospitals to be built. Across the political system, there is agreement that this needs to be done. I have picked up within the HSE - and I am saying this very clearly and bluntly - that when the surgical hubs are in place they may require a shift in thinking in relation to elective hospitals. Mr. McCallion has said that is not the case, but we have to clear that the surgical hubs will be nowhere near the scale of what these elective hospitals will do. They are key and central to reforming the health service and separating scheduled from unscheduled care. We again possibly going into a difficult winter. As the representatives know, the first casualty of overcrowding in emergency departments is through the cancellation of elective procedures. We are facing that again. That will again create problems for waiting lists and patients. We all know why we need them. We need a bit more of an explanation as to why, as we sit here today, we are still only at a business case stage for Dublin where no sites have been identified, and design stage for the other two.