Mr. Tom Costello:

We must also plan for success, but the Deputy is correct. The project is associated with hundreds of risks, and planning permission is one of them. The board was appointed just over one year ago, and before we committed to expenditure on the design team we went through a due diligence process to ensure the site was suitable and to fully understand the issues arising. A planning report that was carried out as part of the decision making process and the selection of the St. James's Hospital site highlighted all the issues and potential risks arising in the short-listed sites. A number of issues were raised in regard to the St. James's site. Prior to employing the design team we set out to interrogate and understand these issues.

The fundamental issue was, of course, the size of the site. The site that was offered initially was similar in size to the Mater site. In the deliberations that took place prior to the selection of St. James's Hospital, that site was significantly expanded. We carried out further due diligence in order to get a high degree of satisfaction or comfort that we were working within the planning guidelines. One of the major issues in this regard is the height of the building. The site would easily accommodate a building under the 28 m limit, with capacity for future expansion. In order to be satisfied in that regard, we insisted on St. James's providing a large site. The site that is now being provided is three times the size of the Mater site, at 12 acres.

Our first concern is to plan for success and to address the issues identified as part of the planning report. We have the benefit of two planners on our board, one of whom was previously a member of An Bord Pleanála. This means we have good internal advice on planning. We are building a degree of confidence in this regard. At the end of the day An Bord Pleanála will make the decision, but we are making sure all the potential issues are addressed as we proceed.

If we are unfortunate in not getting planning permission, Government policy as it stands is to build a children's hospital at St. James's. I envisage that the board would attempt to understand the issues arising. We are sure it will not be due to the site being too small and we will continue our efforts to deliver on Government policy by building a children's hospital at St. James's.