Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that the Government is at least going to look again at this. As the local elections are over, there might be a calmer climate in which to do that properly. The health service is at a standstill and while I suggest that €3 million or €4 million could have prevented today's strike, €3 billion was cavalierly announced for this project, which was much more than any of the estimates.

I am struck by the minutes of those meetings. It was casually reported at the meeting in September that the cost had gone up by €300 million from the previous month. No one batted an eyelid, including the Taoiseach, who was at the meeting. The then Minister, Deputy Naughten, said that we should plough ahead. He, of course, had had all sorts of dinners with Granahan McCourt, which I worry about. I am not casting any aspersions, good, bad or indifferent; that might have been a political and electoral imperative. However, the former Minister got too close to the remaining bidder. That does not look good in respect of public procurement and so on, and the taxpayer is now caught for €3 billion. Minutes of a meeting on 2 May 2018 show that other alternatives were looked at and no definitive conclusion was reached. That is also revealing and contrary to what we were originally told.

If what the Taoiseach is saying is the case, I welcome the fact that the Government is prepared to look at this to try to deliver the same objective but in a much more cost-effective way for the taxpayer.

See this speech in context