Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

When I was at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and this was first mooted, I expected the project to be completed much earlier than today. With regard to the review of the current project which took place in 2006, all of the timelines have so far been adhered to and all the progress outlined in that has come about. The timescale is being maintained.

There is much more co-operation at this stage. The Deputy may not have been far off the mark when he indicated part of the difficulty was some less than helpful exchanges between those involved in the early stages.

I would have taken the same view as the Deputy until I examined the matter in much detail since taking up my current portfolio. It is not quite as simple and straightforward as the Deputy indicated. Some countries have got it very right but some have got it very wrong.

See this speech in context