Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Maybe I am missing something here. Does the Minister recognise that the public are appalled at the level of overruns with the children's hospital, the amount of money involved, the scale of the project, the extent of the overruns and the damning criticism by PwC of the entire process?

Against that background, does the Minister not understand why they would be even a little concerned that someone who was appointed by the Government, who was the Government Chief Procurement Officer and who was appointed to the board has resigned? The Government's attitude to him seems to be that he was simply appointed and sat on the board for several years when all these overruns arose and now there are suggestions there could be further overruns. The Minister is telling the Leader of the Opposition there might be further overruns but that his resignation is something we should not be concerned about. I find that a highly strange attitude. Does the Minister not understand why not only I but the public might think that is a particularly odd attitude to take given everything that is happening? The Minister is casually saying that this individual was on the board for several years but the Minister did not really know what he was doing and has not really talked to him since he resigned. It seems the Minister is not really that concerned about why he resigned. He seems to be suggesting it is normal for someone to step down. Is this not a little odd given the scale of the project and the importance of his role and the fear that there could be further overruns on this project?

Does the Minister not think there should be a little more from the Government in terms of its interest in Mr. Quinn's reasons for resigning? Should there not be a little bit more explanation, transparency and accountability? Does the Minister not think that is a reasonable thing to ask?

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