Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The decision to proceed was taken in autumn 2006. There have been 21 meetings since and from the time I came to this Department, I have been aware of the complexities in terms of technical specifications, the arguments and substantial differing views of what the project should comprise. Much of that has been washed out and resolved through the system, and that is why we have moved to a position where we can clearly move forward. The final work is being done at the moment.

The OPW, with which the Deputy is familiar, is superb at PPPs and managing this type of project, working with the other agencies. It has done great work in this area. As far as I understand, everybody has signed off on the specifications, and the arguments and discussions on what, where, how, etc., have been resolved. As I indicated in my initial reply, we are now into a phase where we can move the project to the public domain.

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