Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not doubt the Minister of State's commitment to these projects but, as I said, the timescale has slipped and there are delays. Beaumont Hospital was opened in 1987 and there has been no major capital investment since then. The services provided there always seem to be on a knife-edge, and while they are first-class services, it needs major capital investment, in particular in the emergency department. People report sitting on plastic chairs for hours at a time and not being admitted, and so forth. The physical infrastructure of the building needs to be modernised, changed and reconstructed.

I accept that procedures have to be followed and that there has to be a stage 1, 2 and 3. I recall being in the Department of Education and Skills and dealing with a school building project that seemed to go through endless stages before a sod was turned or a building opened, and it would seem this is the case with regard to these HSE projects. While the procedures have to be followed, I hope the procedures and stages are not just put in place to delay because the money is not available.

I welcome the Minister of State's commitment and statement that despite the overrun in the cost of the children's hospital, which will now cost €1.73 billion, these two projects will not be reprofiled, deferred or delayed. That is a very important commitment.

In regard to the cystic fibrosis unit, we are coming up to purple rose day, which is organised by Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, yet it is reported that patients and sufferers of cystic fibrosis and their families are deeply upset that this project is not up and running. As the Minister of State said, these projects need to be drive on and brought to fruition.

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