Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

It is clear what should have happened. There should have been fixed price contracts. Conditions of contract should have been sent out with the tender documentation. Above all, there should have been oversight. The Minister for Health and Children of the day and the Taoiseach as the leader of the Government of the day should have accepted responsibility. None of those things happened, however. The Taoiseach cannot walk away from his responsibility in this regard. He cannot shove it over to Professor Drumm and the HSE. The €150 million spent on it would have delivered a brand new 60-bed hospital. It could have been spent on doubling the home help budget, thereby providing a valuable community service to elderly people and people with disabilities. If the €150 million had been spent where it matters most, it could have been used to make a real difference to waiting lists in accident and emergency departments, for example. The Government should have ensured that it got value for the money provided by the people through their taxes, but instead there has been a shameful waste of taxpayers' money.

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