Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister noted, the Commission announced its decision at the end of August 2016. There was a deadline of early January 2017 for the collection of the money. I do not recall the Government saying that was wholly unrealistic, which now seems to be the Minister's central point. He accuses the Commission of bad faith and says that countries would normally get two years following a ruling such as this to collect the money but the Commission has instead initiated infringement proceedings. The Minister is giving further ammunition to the Commission by not even laying out a roadmap for the collection of the money. There are tendering procedures involved. Tendering started in July in regard to the NTMA, as I understand it. Can the Minister provide the House with an estimate of when the decision will be respected in terms of the collection of the money and it being put into an escrow account on a temporary basis pending the appeal?

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