Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Since the Deputy did interrupt me, just let me say this. He does not look askance at making accusations from time to time based on dubious information. Let us, therefore, deal with facts instead of propaganda. Propaganda cloaked as facts is wrong. It is misleading and bad for everyone. The Minister made one point, and I will finish on this observation, regarding the secondment. I refer to why civil servants move so slowly. One of the things I have noticed in the past several years is that it is impossible to make a decision without some guy, who is second-guessing with hindsight, coming forward to say he knows someone who can tell us about something.

On the national children's hospital, for example, guys were saying they knew another guy who was building a house that cost X, Y and Z and this was what the total cost was. We cannot compare chalk and cheese, for God's sake. We need to wake up, get a life, come into the real world and recognise that what is going on in this situation concerns a difficult large project being undertaken on a large site. It is a site of some 50 acres. People were telling me in the beginning that this was not big enough and it would be necessary to find another one, etc. What a load of nonsense for God's sake. This is the most convenient site that could be found at the confluence of major thoroughfares, namely, those coming from the west, the south and the east. No more accessible site could be found. I thank the Cathaoirleach for letting me in at this point because I have to go over and represent my constituents in another location. I thank the Minister and the committee for listening.