James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

Comhghairdeas don Teachta on his appointment. The review will take four weeks from the time it begins, but before we can do that, further information is required, especially in respect of the bottoming out of the money that we have available. I was given an estimate for the building cost by the last chairman of the board, but there was a €10 million variance between that and the figures that had been produced by the HSE.

I also want to be assured that we are comparing like with like, so I have asked for a costing to be done if the exact same hospital, with the exact same specifications, were built on a greenfield site. It is important that we know the difference in money and that we are comparing apples and apples and not apples and oranges. While I am acutely aware that every month this goes by costs the taxpayer €500,000, there is the possibility of hundreds of millions being lost if we build a place without foreseeing all the problems involved, and in the absence of all the facts. The draft terms of reference for the review will be drawn up by my Department. It is absolutely our intention that the review will be carried out by persons of international repute. The Government remains committed to the building of a national paediatric hospital. Obviously, we want to ensure it is built in the quickest fashion possible and in the right place at an affordable cost. I shall finish by saying the IMF is in town.

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