Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his considered response to the issues raised and questions posed. I suspect the site the Minister of State spoke about is the same one about which I received correspondence in the past. Maybe the owners of the site have changed their minds or maybe the HSE has moved on to look at a different site since my parliamentary question was submitted. I would rather not specify the site in this forum but I imagine that myself and the Minister of State are talking about the same site. The Minister of State said that all other options will be considered by the HSE in the event that this site is not deliverable and it would seem that now is the time to formulate a plan B. The planning permission application was turned down by An Bord Pleanála, as outlined in the Minister of State's speech, in February 2015. We are now two and a half years on from that point but are no closer to getting a solution, even though this project was announced five years ago. The funding has been ring fenced year after year and the needs of the people in Finglas south and west are no less than they were five years ago. In fact, those needs are even greater now. I appreciate that this was not the Minister of State's brief in 2012 nor in 2013 to 2016. However, his words here today are encouraging and his commitment is commendable. I would greatly appreciate it if the Minister of State could roll up his sleeves and use his considerable ability to join with me in trying to bring about a solution for these people.

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