Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----for the purpose of the upfront payment is all to do with the objective that we have set.

I concede the following. I have heard the point the Senator made about this being a one fell swoop attempt to generate funds for a new national hospital. I understand and appreciate her view but it is not true to say that the licence does not have to comply with EU law because it does. That is exactly what all of the directives on procurement are about and is something that we are implementing to the letter of the law.