Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

We have to go through appropriate procurement and tendering procedures, value for money audits and the planning process because it is a private sector initiative. A former Member, for ideological reasons, appealed most of the planning permissions for these projects to An Bord Pleanála and that delayed them by up to 12 months. Planning for the Beaumont Hospital project was granted only at the end of last year.

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