Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I would like to tease this out a little bit further because I did not get much from the Taoiseach's answer to Deputy McDonald. To be honest, the Taoiseach did not answer the question. The Taoiseach keeps saying that this is going to be owned by the State. If that is the case, why is the Minister going to talk to the Sisters of Charity? A deadline will have to be set at some stage. Does the Taoiseach accept what his Tánaiste said a few days ago, which is that we may potentially have to look at a new site? Or will the Taoiseach set some sort of deadline for these negotiations so that they do not evolve over a long period of time? The Labour Party and I have suggested three months. If not, the land will have to be acquired by way of compulsory purchase order, CPO. We have to deal with this one way or the other. The Taoiseach cannot just stand up and say that it will be owned by the State when we all know of the issues regarding ownership of the land and governance. These issues go hand in hand. We need to own the land. The Taoiseach should either set a deadline or acquire the land by way of CPO.

See this speech in context