Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I am going to tell the Deputy what it means. Calm down. He asked his question and I get an opportunity to answer it. It is how this place works. The Deputy asked a question about the children's hospital. I am responsible, of course. I am responsible for bringing the proposal to the Cabinet and for recommending that we proceed. The easiest thing to do in politics if you do not want to ever get into any challenging situation is to never make a decision. Does the Deputy know what else I am going to be responsible for, along with my colleagues in Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Independents, as well as those who served in government in the intervening period? We are going to be responsible for a world-class facility. We are going to be responsible for transforming children's healthcare. We are going to be responsible for making sure that parents who slept on cold, hard floors in Crumlin hospital last night can have bed facilities. We are going to be responsible for children having single ensuite rooms. We are going to be responsible for providing a health service that will have more theatres than ever before, will have open spaces for our children, will have improved medical outcomes and will tackle waiting lists. Nobody gets everything right in politics. Many lessons have been learned. Before the Deputy asks me what that means, I will tell him. We did the PwC report. It looked at all the options and recommended that continuing and proceeding was the best option. We have brought in several changes in how we deal with capital projects since then. We have also set up an infrastructure division in the Department of public expenditure and reform. It is very easy to sit over there and just have to stand up and correct everybody else's homework. It is much harder to come to work, roll up your sleeves and actually deliver for the people of this country.

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