Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and giving us an explanation. It is important that the project be prioritised. My colleague referred to the fact that it was first mooted in 1993. Quite good times were experienced for 14 years under Fianna Fáil but it was interesting that very little progress was made.In fact, when progress was made the location turned out to be the wrong site. I do not think Fianna Fáil can throw stones when it comes to this matter.

Of course costs will rise, and have done so, because the building trade has picked up substantially. As I said earlier this morning, the unemployment rate has reduced from 15% to 7.1%. An awful lot of that success is attributable to the huge number of people who are back at work in the construction industry thus making it more competitive. As a result, contractors are working out the future cost of labour and other items necessary to progress this project. The Minister of State has stated that the cost is within 5% of the original estimate and she mentioned construction inflation.

I thank the Minister of State for making herself available for this debate. I remind my colleagues that the Minister had prior long-standing commitments and it was not possible for him to drop them to attend this evening. These facts must be taken on board when a request is made for him to attend. I am sure he would have had no problem attending if he had received 24 hours notice, which would have been this time tomorrow evening. I am not too sure all of my colleagues would put the same time into this debate if he had agreed to attend here tomorrow evening at 6 o'clock.