Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Tánaiste's reference to the Cabinet as "hospital" was not deliberate. Perhaps the chaos in both has been comparable in recent days. The only thing that is clear here is that the Tánaiste is continuing to equivocate on the matter of costs. Is she happy that the children's hospital, if and when it is completed, will be the most expensive children's hospital built anywhere in the world? A new children's hospital in Finland, which is a comparable jurisdiction, will cost half what our children's hospital is apparently going to cost. What does the Tánaiste intend to do about those costs? Is the Government planning to sit on its hands again? Will it leave it to the Committee of Public Accounts to call authorities to account for spiralling costs and to account for how public moneys are spent? Everybody understands the need for the children's hospital. As I said earlier, this debate has run since 1993. The reality is that decades have passed and there is no hospital. Now we read accounts of spiralling costs that are outrageous and indefensible. I will repeat my questions. What about the costs? What does the Government intend to do about the €1 billion bill that is being presented to the taxpayer? When will the hospital be completed?

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