Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister did not mention that. Where is that money? We keep asking whether it is ring-fenced for the children's hospital. I am sure it has gone into he national finances somewhere and the Government will bring it back out, or is it held in an escrow account for the purpose? We would like to know. Has any of it been used generally for debt reductions? We all agree the sale of assets should be used for reinvestment and job creation. The programmes the Minister mentioned – the PPP programme for Grangegorman, secondary roads throughout the country, schools, tourism projects and housing – are significant and welcome. However it does not tally with the amount of money the Government received. Could the Minister give us a good reason why Ervia, which has approximately €1 billion from the sale of Bord Gáis Éireann’s business, is still holding onto it? Is the Minister waiting to balance the books on budget day and say he will have €500 million from this for next year and €500 million for the election the following year?

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