Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach says he wants more time but we know from a response to a parliamentary question submitted by my colleague, an Teachta Stanley, that 80 civil servants and consultants have been working on this tender process for over two years. The whole process has been marked by delay, which has generated massive frustration and impatience right across those rural homes and communities which the Taoiseach describes, and now he says he wants more time. The Taoiseach challenged me on the using the term "multiples of the €500 million" but it is the phrase he used himself. He said it would likely cost multiples and, as such, it is his language not mine. What we want to know now is the final cost.

It is astonishing that the Head of Government would take such a laissez-faireapproach to final costings. He should have a view as to the affordability-----

See this speech in context