Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is appropriate, in line with Government rules, to carry out an audit of how the money was spent to ensure the money is spent on providing services for people and not duplicating other activities.

I have not had a chance to read the Oireachtas committee report yet but the Government will examine the report and provide a reasoned response. All of us, through our constituency work, will be familiar with people who live in houses or apartments that were not built up to standard. These people will now be stuck with those consequences for the rest of their lives, or if not for the rest of their lives, for a long time at least.

On climate change, as we all know, the 2020 targets will be difficult to meet. We had a lost decade, a recessionary period during which we could not make the types of capital investments we would have liked to make. In addition, when the targets were set they did not fully comprehend the fact that Ireland's economy does not have much heavy industry. Many countries are meeting their targets by closing down dirty heavy industries that we did not have in the first place. These are the two reasons it will be difficult for Ireland to meet the 2020 targets. However, the 2030 targets are probably more achievable and we must ensure we meet them.

On the ten-year investment plan, as it is still in draft form, I am not yet able to indicate how many projects it contains and what proportion of them are existing projects. However, it would be fair to conclude that many of these projects are in progress. It is a ten-year plan running from 2018 until 2027 and some of the projects in it are not new. Metro north, for example, which is due to start in 2021, will obviously be restated in the plan, as will projects such as the national children's hospital, which are only starting now. Sites at which construction has commenced include St. James's, Blanchardstown and Tallaght hospitals. While I accept that a renal unit is not yet under construction in Tallaght hospital, the paediatric unit is under construction and it is great to see cranes beside the hospitals again.

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