Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. It is good to be back and able to engage on these matters. I commend the Minister for what he has done to date in highlighting the importance of the College Green building and its historical, architectural and cultural significance. He has compared the area to Tiananmen Square. The idea that we could develop a plaza-like facility for the public and tourists at that location is highly commendable. However, the Minister appears to be backing off a little from that commitment. He is personally strong on it, but I am not convinced that the potential for achieving the objective is as strong as it appeared previously. I am particularly concerned that the CEO of Bank of Ireland, Mr. Richie Boucher, when speaking before the Oireachtas committee only last September, said, "We are not aware of any such request from Government," when he was asked by a Government backbencher about the position on the College Green building. Many very important issues must be considered regarding the Government's engagement with Mr. Boucher and Bank of Ireland, but this is an important issue, too, and we would expect him to know about it.

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