Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I agree with what you are saying but is it not a much bigger issue? In Galway, the Corrib Great Southern Hotel is owned by the State. Beside it is the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT, which is struggling for accommodation. The State sells the hotel and it ends up in liquidation. It is in private hands again and the State is seeking to buy it back. They are beside each other. It could not be a more acute picture of idiocy and madness. The hotel remains empty to this day. It was owned by the State and is located beside an institution that is struggling. Is it not a bigger issue regarding acquiring public buildings and Departments talking to each other? The hotel should not have been sold in the first instance. It should have been acquired by the Department of Education and Skills. This is happening throughout the country.