Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Minister's colleagues are present and that he is here to represent the Government. I feel some of my questions will be more oriented to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. I am pleasantly surprised he is here.

When we look at the hundreds of documents we have gone through, we find there is a letter that came in from the contractor on 24 August. It is an alarming letter, no matter what way one looks at it. It outlines how the company got special permission to tender for a project of €600 million without an external joint venture partner when the normal limit was €300 million - I think it bid €660 million. The documents then outline the minutes of the hospital board, as opposed to the other board which was set up for some other reason. They outline that in September, when there were concerns about it falling far short of what had been expected, it was wondering whether the company and the whole way in which the project had been put forward were fit for purpose to deliver a project of this scale and complexity. There were also concerns on the board about the contractor being sufficiently resourced, which backed up the previous concern.

Were these issues not worthy? These are serious concerns for a board. Was it not obligatory for the members of the board, many of whom would have reported to the Department of Health, to bring these concerns to the Minister at that point in regard to making a decision on the status of the project? Is the Minister not concerned when he reads those minutes that they were not brought to his attention at the time?

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