Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It must be said that the Minister of State himself did come on-site a number of months ago and that has to be welcomed, just as the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, did before him. Both of them reiterated on site to the people they met that day, residents and businesses, that money is not an issue. The issues concerned the process that was being undertaken initially and then, subsequently, the tender. The rules and regulations are there and need to be respected. Deputy Colm Burke makes on valid point. We are literally at the finish line now in delivering this project. It is about getting it over the line. If we can maximise or optimise those little time lags between the city council and the contractor going into the next few months as the tender is finalised, cutting those couple of weeks or months might give people great reassurance that the scheme is actually going ahead. If they see works taking place later this year, that is the most reassurance we can give them.

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