Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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On the Arts Council, one thing that shocked me as well - Deputy Geoghegan alluded to this - was the constant review of the project. Ultimately, the annual report states why the council scrapped it in the end, which is a fascinating few lines: "Rationale for the decision included lower implementation cost being €1.5m as distinct from a further €5.3m required for the implementation of the discontinued project together with a projected annual operational cost saving of €0.325m." Obviously it was a sensible decision not to spend a further €3.8 million, whatever about the €5 million that was already spent. The report also states, "Other matters Included in the rationale included a shorter delivery timeline, lower delivery risk and a simpler solution to implement." Basically, in all these categories and after millions of euro were spent, the council ultimately decided it was going to be cheaper, quicker and more effective to do it the cheaper way. It seems that after this constant review it should never been at this point. This is the shocking part of it.

With regard to who will be coming in, I know people speak to the board but, ultimately, the people who are engaged in the day-to-day are key here as well. Do we know who had actual responsibility for being in charge of this? I am aware that responsibility goes up the line but was it the chief financial officer or the chief operations officer who acted as the operations officer overseeing this? I know there would have been review by the board but, ultimately, we need to speak to the person who was making the day-to-day decisions and probably making recommendations to the board more than anything.

On the National Gallery of Ireland, is it as simple as the gallery jumping the gun, buying the machine, not having a place for the machine and still looking for a place for it? Is it as simple as that?