Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I wish to make a final comment. The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht did carry out reviews, which were very welcome. Those reviews highlighted problems. Those involved did try to do this. There is a bigger issue here. This took place in a political atmosphere in which the project had to go ahead. We need to look at that element, as in the case of the national children's hospital.

Perhaps the Comptroller and Auditor General could comment on project reviews. I do not know what should go into a project review, but this seems to consist of Fáilte Ireland telling us how good Galway is. The report notes that the city council "owns four properties immediately adjacent to Pálás and intends to develop these". This is a post-project review and nobody seems to have had the wit to ask why the four properties are empty. When that type of review is carried out and not one question is asked about this, one begins to question our whole way of doing things. That might be a bit unfair, but we decided to have a review. The project review says how wonderful the project is for Galway and that particular quarter, as opposed to asking how this happened.